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US Olympic freestyle gold medalist Henry Wittenberg dead at 91

Henry Wittenberg, a U.S. freestyle wrestler who won a gold and a silver medal at the 1948 and 1952 Olympics, died Tuesday at age 91. The New York Times described Wittenberg as "one of America's greatest wrestlers while a New York City police officer." According to the obituary in the New York Times, Wittenberg was one of the first U.S. wrestlers to work out with weights, over the objections of the 1948 Olympic team coach -- and head wrestling coach at Oklahoma State University -- Art Griffith, who was concerned about weightlifting causing an athlete to become "muscle-bound" (a prevailing attitude at the time in many

Unveil of Torch & Community Cauldron Design & Open Application for Torchbearers

Journey of the Youth Olympic Flame: Unveiling of the Torch and Community Cauldron Design / Opening of Public Application for Torchbearers 12 Mar 2010 Come August 2010, some 2,400 Singaporeans will get the chance to be a part of the nation's history as the Youth Olympic Flame arrives in Singapore for the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games (Singapore 2010) Journey of the Youth Olympic Flame (JYOF). As the Youth Olympic Flame journeys around Singapore in a 6-day torch relay, Singaporeans will be participating as torchbearers or cheering on their fellow community torchbearers in the first-ever Olympic Games torch relay in Singapore. Mr NG Ser Miang, International Olympic Committee (IOC) Vice-President and Chairman of the Singapore Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee (SYOGOC) said, "The Olympic Flame represents the values of Excellence, Friendship and Respect, and is one of the most important and recognisable symbol of the Olympic Movement. It will be an unforgettable experience to carry the Flame or just to witness its journey round Singapore. I invite all of you to be part of this journey." Be a Torchbearer Torchbearers are the ambassadors of the Olympic Flame - expressing the spirit of Olympism and inspiring others to embrace this ideal. A torchbearer for the Singapore 2010 JYOF must embrace, embody and express the Olympic values of Excellence, Friendship and Respect. From 12 March to 15 April 2010, Singapore Citizens or Singapore Permanent Residents aged 12 years old and above (born on or before 1 January 1999) may apply to SYOGOC to be a Singapore 2010 JYOF torchbearer. They have to complete an online form at the Million Deeds Challenge website (www.milliondeeds.sg), and share how they live the Olympic values through deeds of Excellence, Friendship and Respect in their life. About 560 torchbearers will be selected by random ballot through this channel, and SYOGOC will inform the selected torchbearers in June 2010. In addition, SYOGOC is working with various communities in Singapore to select other torchbearers such as students and national servicemen. In all, about 85% of the torchbearers will be the public, both as individuals and members of the various communities. Cheer the Flame! Besides participating in the Singapore 2010 JYOF as a torchbearer, schools, organisations and the community are encouraged to organise activities to bring Singaporeans together to Cheer the Flame! and the torchbearers as the Youth Olympic Flame passes through various parts of Singapore. A community celebration will end off each relay day and everyone, especially those who have missed the torch relay that day, are invited to join in the celebrations where the community cauldron will be lit with the Youth Olympic Flame. Unveiling of the JYOF Torch and Introduction of First Two Student Torchbearers Senior Minister GOH Chok Tong, joined by students and teachers from NorthLight School, unveiled the torch for the Singapore 2010 JYOF and the design of the community cauldron at the school today. The torch will be carried by the torchbearers for the torch relay for the Singapore JYOF, and also by the participants of the torch pass ceremony at each of the five international cities that the Youth Olympic Flame will travel to. The community cauldron will be used to hold the Youth Olympic Flame at the community celebration site. The first two student torchbearers for the Singapore 2010 JYOF, LEE Chuan Jie, 16, and NORADLINA Bte Abdul Hadi, 15, from NorthLight School were also introduced today at the event, where they shared their thoughts on what it meant to them to be selected as torchbearers. For more information on the Journey of the Youth Olympic Flame, please visit www.singapore2010.sg/jyof About Singapore 2010 - Blazing the Trail Singapore will be hosting the inaugural Youth Olympic Games (YOG) from 14 to 26 August 2010. The Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games will receive some 5,000 athletes and officials from 205 National Olympic Committees (NOCs), along with estimated 1,200 media representatives, 20,000 local and international volunteers, and more than 500,000 spectators. Young athletes - aged between 14 and 18 years - will compete in 26 sports and take part in a Culture and Education Programme. The Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games aims to inspire youth around the world to embrace, embody and express the Olympic values of Excellence, Friendship and Respect. It will create a lasting sports, culture and education legacy for Singapore and youths from around the world, as well as enhance and elevate the sporting culture locally and regionally. Apply now for media accreditation for Singapore 2010 at www.singapore2010.sg/media. Accreditation closes 1 May. For more information, please visit www.singapore2010.sg Issued by: Singapore Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee © 2008-2010 Singapore 2010

Arnold Classics results

The 2010 Arnold Weightlifting Championships presented weightlifters in a three day event featuring open divisions for youth through adult competitors. This year's competitions included: the Master's Lifting Invitational for lifters 35 years & older; the Arnold International Weightlifting Invitational where lifters competed for prize money; and the Arnold Weightlifting Champions of Tomorrow for lifters 8-20 years. The Arnold Weightlifting Championships took place March 5-7 at the Greater Columbus Convention Center, Ohio. RESULTS Amanda Hubbard, Photo by John Broz Kendrick Farris, Photo by John Broz Watch Kendrick Ferris "Mr. Olympian" Promo Video on http://www.theironsamurai.com/2009/09/12/kendrick-ferris-mr-olympian-promo-video/ Watch his video on Arnold 2010 on http://www.theironsamurai.com/2010/03/09/kendrick-ferris-at-the-arnold-2010/   If you want to know more about Hubbard and Farris visit the cover page of USA Weightlifting website: http://weightlifting.teamusa.org/    

Oceania meet comes home

Friday, March 12, 2010 FIJI will host the 2010 Oceania and South Pacific Championships (senior, junior, youth) and Olympic Youth qualification event for the first time since 2004. The competition will be played on May 4-7. This will be the Olympic Youth Continental qualification championship for the Singapore Olympic Youth Games in August. Twenty countries from the Pacific Islands -- including Australia and New Zealand -- will be part of the major event. Fiji weightlifting stars Manueli Tulo and Maria Liku, who won the FASANOC Best Male and Female Athlete of the Year awards, will represent Fiji. "This will be a great opportunity to see some of the world's best weightlifters," said Chris Yee, the Fiji Weightlifting Association secretary. Yee said Fiji had hosted past Oceania Games in 2002, 03 and 04. He said this could be an ideal opportunity to witness Fiji's very own Tulo and Liku competing at this level. Tulo won the 56kg category in 2007 in Samoa while Liku won three gold medals at the Mini Pacific Games in Cook Islands last year. Yee said Fiji had the facilities to host the championships. (Fiji

Best prospects for Taichung 2010 WUWC – confirms FISU Technical Chair’s visit

FISU Technical Chair for Weightlifting (at the same time IWF Director) Mrs. Anikó Németh-Móra made her technical inspection visit to Taiwan last week, to check preparations for the 2nd FISU World University Weightlifting Championships. The 2010 WUWC will take place in Taichung, a large and traditional university city, under the care of the Chinese Taipei University Sport Federation. The visit involved inspection of the Competition Venue housed by the National Taiwan Sport University, the Training Venue just next door and the accommodation of participants.The Taichung Plaza International Hotel (a high-class hotel) will accommodate all delegations, officials and technical officials. All aspects of the organisation of the 2010 WUWC were thoroughly discussed and Mrs. Németh can confirm that prospects for a high-standard and successful organisation are excellent. During her visit, the FISU Technical Chair met the key persons in the event, i.e.  Professor Su Wen-Jen, President of the University and of the OC, and his team in Taichung; Mr. Jason Hu, Mayor of Taichung City, who guaranteed the full support of the City Government to the World Championships;Mr. Kunning Chen, President of the CTUSF.The Chinese Taipei Weightlifting Association will fully participate in the technical organisation of the WUWC - personally guaranteed by CTWA President Mr. Chang Chao-Kuo, at the same time 1st Vice President of the IWF. Already 16 countries have sent their intention to participate. The Chinese Taipei organisers will do their best to give the World's Weightlifting Community another great Championships, whereby the costs of participation (€ 60 for hotel and full board daily) are low, as defined by the FISU Rules. It only remains for us to encourage participation of all the affiliated National Federations. Please contact your National University Sport Federation and send your entries to the 2010 WUWC in Taichung, TPE! - Website: http://2010wuwc.ctusf.org.tw

Your last chance: Best Lifter Voting deadline extended to 15.3.2010

This is your last chance to influence the outcome of World Weightlifting's Voting for the Best Lifters of 2009. The deadline has been extended to 15 March 2010.   Submit your vote