News

German Weightlifters Up for the Arnold

Even if their Olympic teammate - gold medalist Matthias Steiner - is coming off hernia surgery, Juergen Spiess and Almir Velagic are more than ready to defy gravity at the Arnold Sports Festival, where they are headliners for the IronMind Invitational on the main stage of the Expo Hall at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 7.  Leading up to that, the delegation from the weightlifting federation will also have a training session and they will be featured in a presentation followed by questions and answers. "There is a lot of interest in this visit," said Randall Strossen, who organized the IronMind Invitational.  "Even before Matthias Steiner arrived, we have received requests to interview him, so this is another example of the Arnold Sports Festival providing a terrific platform for weightlifting to be presented to the larger public." The German delegation comprises seven members, three of whom are Olympic medalists in weightlifting: Dr. Christian Baumgartner (leader)              Frank Mantek (coach)                     Michael Vater (coach)                    Marc Huster (media)                               Matthias Steiner (athlete)                         Almir Velagic (athlete)                             Jürgen Spieß   (athlete)         The Arnold Sports Festival is from March 6 - 8 in Columbus, Ohio.  It is the world's largest multi-sport fitness expo, founded and run by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and his partner Jim

Road 2 Asian Games, NEW SERIES

IEC staff led by Jeff Stone had a fantastic experience in Chiang Mai shooting and interviewing Thailand 's top female weightlifters at the end of February. The program they shot for is called Road 2 Asian Games, which is a new program that launched in early-February. The show is airing in various markets around Asia in the run-up to the 2010 Asian Games to be held in Guangzhou. (The core competence of IEC in Sports' (IEC) business is the distribution of television rights of events in Summer Olympic sporting disciplines. The 2008 IEC programme list consists of more than 350 events with a total annual volume of more than 4,000 "live"

Austria’s homage to German Olympic Gold medallist Matthias Steiner

"After earning Olympic gold in Beijing, Matthias Steiner is granted the Golden Badge of Honour of the Republic of Austria because he is a shining example of Austrian sports and has still close ties with his home country", Secretary of State for Sports Reinhold Lopatka stressed at the reception staged for the super-heavyweight lifter winning Olympic gold for Germany held in Obersulz (Weinviertel/Lower Austria). Steiner, 25, was three times Austrian champion and medal winner at junior world and European championships. Besides, the Austrian Weightlifting Association represented the most successful discipline of the Olympic Summer Games, earning 11 medals since

Long Qingquan Selected for Top Sports Awards

A handful of China's top Olympic athletes were honored at the country's most prestigious annual sports award ceremony in Beijing. At 2008 China Top Ten Benefiting Laureus Sports For Good award ceremony, seventeen-year-old Long Qingquan who won a gold medal in the men's 56kg weightlifting competition at the Beijing Olympics received the Rising Star award. (source: Chinese Weightlifting

WADA President and Director General give Press Conference during blitz visit at IWF

Upon the personal invitation of Dr. Tamás Aján, IWF President, WADA President John Fahey and Director General David Howman paid a 20-hour visit to Budapest on 25 February. "The IWF's anti-doping program has improved tremendously, year by year, and is very successful - as proven by the Beijing Olympic Games, when only one positive case was found in weightlifting," declared Mr. Fahey at a Press Conference. "That was undoubtedly the success of the IWF's extensive, clever and well-organized anti-doping program especially prior to the Games." The WADA President stated that the activities of WADA, celebrating the 10th anniversary of its foundation this year, had improved and it extended its tentacles to all corners of the world. He pointed out that 220,000 tests had been carried out last year of which two per cent came back positive. He concluded that the message was slowly getting to everyone that it was not worth cheating."Are we winning the fight against dopoing? - Yes, we are!" asserted the chief of WADA.He and the Director General both emphasized that the whereabouts system was although sometimes admittedly uncomfortable still a key factor in the anti-doping battle's success and praised the IWF's and in particular WADA Foundation Board Member Dr. Aján's contributions and co-operation in that regard.

Last date for hotel reservation at Madrid Electoral Congress is 10 March 2009

Those National Federation delegates who have not yet sent their Final Registration Form and hotel reservation to the Spanish Organising Committee regarding the IWF Electoral Congress in Madrid must do so before 10 March 2009. Updated information on hotel rates and Final Registration Forms can be found by clicking on the Electoral Congress on this website.