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British weightlifting making ‘exciting’ progress en route to 2012 Olympics

After breaking 21 national records at last week's world championships, Great Britain's weightlifters might just be ready to make an impact at London 2012. Commonwealth bronze medallist Zoe Smith made two personal best lifts. "I'm very excited about the improvement people have made this year," GB Performance Manager Fiona Lothian told BBC Sport. "The fact that they still have another six months until the end of qualification I think gives us some really good opportunities." As hosts, British Weightlifting receives five guaranteed places, three for men and two for women. Source: BBC / Nick

Three-time world champion Ilya Iliyn arrived home

Olympic Games champion, the most eminent male weightlifter in Kazakhstan, Ilya Iliyn, has once again pleased his country as he became a three-time World Champion. In the capital's airport, Ilya Iliyn received a warm reception from everyone who had believed in his victory. A few days ago, Ilya Iliyn won a gold medal by hoisting a Total of 407kg (181kg in the Snatch and 226kg in Clean and Jerk) at the 2011 IWF World Weightlifting Championships, held in Paris, France. "This year has been a difficult one for me. I was mainly training on my own under a new individual programme. There were enough difficult situations, but we coped with them. I did not expect it to end up in this way." - he said. Iliyn dedicated his victory to the 20th anniversary of Kazakhstan's independence. Source:

After Four golds at Worlds, Russia expects at Olympics

Russia's weightlifters have set the bar high for the London Olympics after four gold medals at recent World Championships held in Paris, the Federation President said. The Russian team came second to China (6) in the gold medal count, with victories for Svetlana Tsarukaeva in the 63kg; Oksana Slivenko in the 69kg; Nadezhda Evstyukhina in the 75kg; Khadhzimurat Akkaev in the 105kg.The results, Russia's best since the Soviet fall in 1992, guaranteed a maximum representation of six men and four women at the London Games next year. "Our team fulfilled its task 100 percent," said Sergei Syrtsov, President of the Russian Weightlifting Federation. "They confirmed that they are one of the leaders in weightlifting." "The World Championships aren't the final straight, but just a stage where we showed we are Olympic medal contenders," he added. Source:

Fifth IF Forum in Lausanne

The fifth edition of the annual IF Forum took place in Lausanne November 14-16, 2011, and once again offered representatives from International Federations an opportunity to discuss important current issues and share ideas about best management practices, through a series of workshops, case studies and discussion groups. This year's event focused on Sport and the City and Building an Effective Federation, and will also featured an exclusive Media Seminar to provide on-camera training for Federation members. The IWF was also represented. The IF Forum was organised by SportAccord Convention in conjunction with SportAccord, ASOIF and AIOWF, and with the support of the City of Lausanne/Canton of

Matin living weightlifting dream through daughter Elyone

Sabahan Matin Guntali's career in weightlifting came to a painful end after he dislocated his right shoulder last year but he continues to live the dream through daughter Elyone. His eldest daughter has not only made it to the national back-up squad but will be making her debut in the SEA Games weightlifting competition in Palembang.Elyone competes in the women's 58kg category together with Franceay Titus. And proud dad, who is now attached to the national back-up team, will be there as one of the three coaches alongside Hidayat Hamidon and Lin Xin Hui. "I'm proud that my daughter is following my path. I never forced my children to take up weightlifting, Elyone just gravitated to it, said 44-year-old Guntali, a five-time Commonwealth Games medallist in the men's below 56kg category. Elyone, 21, has been involved in weightlifting since she was nine and attributed her interest in the sport to her father. "I wasn't really keen at first but when my younger sister Elyonica started going to the gym, I followed suit" said Elyone, who represented Johor at the Sukma (Malaysia Games). "Reading about dad in the newspapers each time he competed in major competitions got me hooked. It was just for fun at first to keep fit. But I slowly got into it in a big way with a lot of encouragement from my father." (By Lim Teik

SEA Games: Vietnam opened the gold rush

The weightlifting competition of the SEA Games was held from November 18-20 at the Dempo Sport Complex in Palembang, Indonesia. Despite many changes in personnel, Vietnamese weightlifters were targeting gold medals. The present team consisted of young and inexperienced members including Thach Kim Tuan, Tran Le Quoc Toan and Nguyen Thi Phuong Loan. The main national medal-winning hope, Hoang Anh Tuan, who pocketed a Beijing Olympics silver medal, was banned for doping at the National Sport Games last November.His female teammate Ngo Thi Hanh was also be absent from the Games for the same reason, while veterans Nguyen Thi Thiet, Ngo Thi Nga, Khuat Minh Hai and Nguyen Manh Thang have all retired. Vietnam had two candidates for the first gold of weightlifting competition of the SEA Games in 56 kg. Tuan and Toan were considered gold medal contenders.Kim Tuan snatched a gold medal at the Singapore Youth Olympics in October 2010. He also won three gold medals at the Asian Youth Weightlifting Championship in Thailand in September. His lift of 277kg set a new Youth World Record. In Paris Thach Kim Tuan failed to break into the top three despite promising training results. In the snatch event, managed 125kg and Indonesia brought him bronze in Total by 124 kg and 147 kg. The other, Toan, who is training in Bulgaria, was expected to return home fresh from his two-month course. Tran Le Quoc Toan successfully pocketed a bronze medal from the World Weightlifting Championships in Paris. He lifted 125kg in the Snatch and ranked third. The 22-year-old athlete lifted 150kg in the Clean and Jerk to achieve a fourth with a Total of 275kg, coming in just 1kg behind bronze medallist Hristov Valentine (AZE). After such a strong performance in his international debut Toan won the Sea Games, with 125kg in the Snatch, 155kg in the Clean and Jerk and 280kg in the Total.Kim Tuan and Toan were fighting against defending champion Jadi Setiadi from Indonesia. Setiadi lifted 274kg to win gold in Laos two years ago. Setiadi improved further 4kg, but his development helped him to reach the silver medal. Check out the results here: http://apps.seag2011.com/rs2011/bm/cm/schedule_type_3.aspx?sid=1&sname=Weightlifting&scode=wl&fid=5