News

Technical Officials to be nominated for 2009 Goyang WWC

National Federations may propose Technical Officials to work at the 2009 Goyang World Championships (19-29 November), to be held in Goyang City, Korea. The IWF's Calling Letter tells about the conditions of the nomination. The Nomination Form is downloadable. Deadline: 19 August

Latest of the Contreras case

Dominican weightlifter Yuderqui Contreras has cleared her name after the International Olympic Committee announced that Contreras' B sample came up as negative during tests in Paris. Contreras' A sample, taken shortly after the 2008 Beijing Olympics tested positive for the performance enhancing drug CERA. There had also been much controversy and suspicion surrounding Contreras because the weightlifter trained in Bulgaria under coach Constantin Darov, but the Bulgarian national team didn't compete in weightlifting events because of a doping scandal. A negative result on her B sample clears any doubts about Contreras and ends months of embarrassment and accusations of cheating. "I can't express my joy after I received the call from journalist Dionisio Soldevilla to tell me about the medical commission's decision." Contreras has always maintained her innocence and said she was confident she would be exonerated. She said she was not interested in winning a medal using banned substances. Yuderqui Contreras came fifth in the 53kg category in the Beijing Olympics. ........................................................ IOC Legal Department informed the IWF, the Dominican Olympic Committee as well as the athlete (Ms. Yudelquis Maridalin CONTRERAS) that under the current circumstamces - B sample analyses report did not confirm the A sample CERA positive - the scheduled hearing has been cancelled. The formal decision from the IOC will follow in due time. ........................................................... Examinations of the b-sample have confirmed that cyclists Stefan Schumacher and Davide Rebellin, as well as 1,500 metres Olympic champion Rashid Ramzi and two other athletes, have tested positive for the latest generation of the blood booster EPO. (FAZ), The German was caught for using CERA at retests of Tour de France 2008 samples and of those retested by the International Olympic Committee from the Beijing Olympics. Italy's Rebellin, the Bahrain runner Ramzi, Greek walker Athanasia Tsoumeleka and Croatian 800m runner Vanja Perisic were also caught in the IOC retests, with the b-sample confirming the original finding, according to the German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. The former world champion Ramzi won 1,500m gold in Beijing while Rebellin got a cycling silver in China. The other three did not get medal, but Schumacher won both time trials at the 2008 Tour before being disqualified. Weightlifter Yudelquis Contreras of the Dominican Republic also submitted a positive a-sample, but the b-test was announced to be negative. The athlete was cleared. The IOC keeps drug samples for eight years and they are subject to retests when new test methods are introduced. The tests for CERA were made available after the Olympics last August. (Earth Times)further details: http://www.olympic.org/uk/includes/common/article_print_uk.asp?id=3009

European Junior Championships, Landskrona preview

European Junior Championships, Landskrona In his last article the President of Swedish Weightlifting Federation, Benny Johansson, expresses his thought about forthcoming European Junior Championships in Landskrona. The organizer plan for 180 - 190 athletes from 30 - 35 countries, and all together about 350 people which are involved in the competition during the last week of July. In 2006 the Swedish WF organized European Youth Championships This year the organizer has to prepare and accomplish a congress as well. Mr Johansson describes the purpose of organizing an international championship of this size in five paragraphs: · Publicity for weightlifting in Sweden .· Economy: The federation hopes to make revenue by organizing this championship.· Recruiting new lifters.· Competence.· Experience: Importance to give our lifters and technical officials a chance to participate at an international championship. Håkan JohansonGeneral Secretary

USA Weightlifting CEO Chosen

The Board of Directors announced that Rick Adams has accepted the position of Chief Executive Officer of USA Weightlifting. Rick worked his way through law school as a decorated police officer. He chose law school as a means for getting a business background and immediately after graduating law school put his degree and experience as a hockey player to work when he joined the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL). He became its President and CEO (really the Commissioner). In that position, he negotiated the league's first broadcast agreement with ESPN and devised novel ways to obtain national media coverage in publications such as Sports Illustrated, USA Today and the Wall Street Journal (e.g., they had a female goalie who attracted much media attention, rule changes such as a fluorescent puck and smaller team sizes to increase action on the ice). Rick also pioneered many marketing concepts that increased league revenues, enhancing the marketing of the all-star game, securing new sponsorships and finding numerous ways to leverage the ECHL brand. He combined vendor and sponsorship packages to increase their appeal and improve the leagues bargaining power. Ultimately, he initiated and managed a major merger with a west coast league, which required securing the approval of approximately 40 individual owners, all of whom were independent and many of whom had no interest in losing any power in a larger league. But Rick prevailed and the result was a much stronger national league. When he moved to RBC Sports, Rick and his partners owned 4 of the ECHL teams he had previously overseen as the Commissioner. In his capacity as President of RBC, he focused on the day to day tasks of increasing revenues through innovative marketing programs, and reducing operating expenses. He managed a staff of 100 and coordinated the activities of volunteers who performed many support functions for these minor league teams. By the time he sold his interests in these teams, their market value had increased threefold. Rick is a splendid negotiator with a huge network of relationships in the sports world. He has repeatedly demonstrated the ability to conceive and carry out innovative marketing programs and manage operations to reduce costs. He is very politically savvy and well experienced in successfully managing constituents with diverse interests and motivations. Rick is looking forward to helping USA Weightlifting reach new heights. Rick is looking for a new challenge in the arena he is most comfortable with - sports marketing and management.

New web site for Lithuanian WF

Lithuanian Weightlifting Federation has launched its new website. The website address is

‘Bronze Medalist’ Has Charms of Sports Drama

Pushing limits, celebrating team spirit and savoring that delicious victory _ or honorable loss _ the classic sports drama is programmed to grip viewers with an adrenaline rush. ``Bronze Medalist,'' featuring weightlifting teenage girls, offers everything you expect from such a film, but also more. South Korea is a country obsessed with first prizes, and Olympic silver and bronze medalists often hang their heads in shame for ``letting down'' fans. Last year's ``Forever the Moment'' spotlighted the women's handball team's memorable silver at the 2004 Athens Olympics, and ``Bronze'' is about another relatively unpopular sport, weightlifting, which was virtually ignored until the 2008 Beijing Olympics catapulted Jang Mi-ran to superstardom with a gold medal and three world records. ``Bronze'' is not a biography on Jang, but it could well have been. It is based on the true story behind the 81st National Sports Festival in 2000, when four of five girls from the same weightlifting team swept 14 golds and one silver out of 15 competitions. This record remains unbeaten to this day, and the girls, who practiced with bamboo poles because they couldn't afford real weights, went on to become national athletes like Jang. Behind such an impressive team, of course, was a passionate coach. Lee Beom-su, whose stardom has just begun to catch up with his hardball acting (``More Than Blue''), stars as retired weightlifter Lee Ji-bong. The movie takes viewers back to the 1988 Seoul Olympics, when Ji-bong snaps his elbow in the snatch _ just like Hungary's Janos Baranyai during the Beijing Games. He wins a bronze medal, but is forced to retire due to a hitherto unknown heart condition. He reluctantly accepts a coaching position at a provincial girls' middle school, where he is more interested in fishing than initiating the zealous youngsters into his bitter world of ``only pain and no gain.'' Nevertheless, it is difficult for him, or the viewer, not to become fond of the improbable team members: Yeong-ja (``Muoi'' screen beauty Jo An who gained seven kilograms for the role), a poor girl whose physical stamina is her only asset; shy and chubby Hyeon-jeong (Jeon Bo-mi) who nurses a crush on the most popular boy in town; book smart Su-ok (Lee Seul-bi) who wants to boost her extracurricular activity list so she can enter Harvard law school and become an FBI agent; tomboyish Yeo-sun (Choi Mun-gyeong) who wishes to succeed in order to support her ill mother; high-spirited Bo-yeong, a born weightlifter; and eccentrically fashionable Min-heui (Lee Yun-heui), who joins the team because she fancies the uniform. Of course, it's only by chance that Ji-bong discovers the teacher in him. He catches Yeong-ja drinking milk out of the trash, and realizes that a meal plan via the team could benefit her. The school principal suggests that funding from the local administration may be possible, but they must first master the art of persuasion. Ji-bong and the girls' efforts to feign an enthusiastic but under-equipped team provides some generic but endearing slapstick for the next few reels. The ``special'' team spirit yields not only a meal service and training camp of their own, but also genuine enthusiasm for weightlifting, for both coach and trainees. Their camp becomes a haven for the lost girls, who pump up muscles and sisterhood, and for Ji-bong, who can finally come to terms with himself. Middle school, however, does not last forever, nor would Ji-bong's stubborn insistence to ignore his chest pains. Recently, ``U and Me'' by Jeon Gye-su, released as part of the omnibus ``If You Were Me 4,'' spotlighted how difficult it could be for a budding young woman to deal with being macho. Compared to the short film, ``Bronze'' remains within the realm of mainstream superficiality and Disneyesque political correctness, but it stands apart from typical Hollywood sport movies with dramatic counterpoints and humor that are distinctively Korean. In addition to Lee, Jo and the group of newcomer actresses, the movie features a supporting cast of A-list veteran actors and cameos by real athletes who give the movie that extra kick and dimension. In theaters from July 1. 120 minutes. All ages admitted. Distributed by N.E.W. (by Lee