News

Hossein Rezazadeh at the IWF office

Shortly after his retirement (prior to the 2008 Olympic Games) due to health reasons, Iran's two-times superheavyweight Olympic Champion Hossein Rezazadeh was appointed as the Head Coach of the Iranian team. His first trip abroad in this new function took him to Hungary, where a mini national team are having a training camp at the National Training Centre of Tata. Rezazadeh paid a visit to the IWF Secretariat in Budapest where he was welcomed by the staff, in the absence of President Dr. Aján, and was interviewed by the media. The great Iranian champion was accompanied by György Szalai (Olympic bronze medallist and World Cup winner from Hungary) now Chief Coach of the Iranian Junior weightlifting team.

Sale of referee licences for next Olympiad

National Federations can order and buy the licence stamps 2009-2012 for their international referees from the IWF Secretariat against payment of the following new fees: Referee Licence Cat. 1 - US$200Referee Licence Cat. 2 - US$100 Any new referee card (whether Cat. 2 or Cat. 1) costs US$200 - including the licence. Please don't forget to submit full name and card number of the referee with any request, and pay at the same time.

World University Championships entry process started!

The 1st FISU World University Weightlifting Championships website is now in operation: http://wuwl2008.duth.gr The Championships to be held under the auspices of FISU and IWF co-operation and technical surveillance will take place at the Democritus University of Thrace in Komotini, North-Eastern Greece. National Weightlifting Federations are requested to submit entries through their National University Sport

IOC President appreciates IWF contribution to 2008 Beijing

In his letter addressed to the IWF President, Dr. Jacques Rogge, President of the International Olympic Committee, highly appreciated the efforts and contributions of the Weightlifting Federation to the great success of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

French Federation will host 1st Monique Maurice Memorial

President Jean-Paul Bulgaridhes announced that the French Weightlifting Federation will host the 1st Women's International Tournament "Monique Maurice Memorial" on 15 November 2008. The Tournament is to commemorate Mme Maurice, international referee and activist of the Federation, deceased two years ago in an accident. Participation in the Tournament is by invitation and the top three lifters will receive Prize Money. The place is Villeneuve-Loubet (by Nice), a stronghold of French weightlifting.

Rezazadeh named head coach of Iranian team

Iran's double Olympic champion, Hossein Rezazadeh, has been named as the manager and head coach of Iran's national weightlifting team. Rezazadeh, known as the Iranian Hercules, was chosen by the Weightlifting Federation Technical Committee on Saturday morning. The 30-year-old weightlifter suffered a knee injury last year and has not taken part in international competition since. Last month he officially announced his retirement as a competitor. Bahman Zare', Masoud Qasemi and Li Hongli from China were also selected as Rezazadeh's