News

Important Note on Beijing Weightlifting Technical Congress

We would like to remind all NFs and NOCs representatives that the Technical Congress will be held at 15:00 on 7 August 2008 in the Competition Venue.   The Verification of Final entries will be held prior to the Congress, starting at 14:00 at the same location.   As the deadline of entries (Sport Entry Form) expired on 23 July 2008, please note the following regarding the Verification:   The athletes’ data should be checked and signed No athlete can be changed / replaced No bodyweight category can be changed Entry Totals may be corrected considering that 15 / 20 kg rule will be implemented during the

All analysis results returned negative from Junior Worlds in Cali

The doping controls of the 2008 Junior World Weightlifting Championships held in Cali, Colombia are now complete. The IOC accredited laboratory (Cologne) reported all tests as negative. Of the 230 participating competitors the IWF subjected 35% to the testing and all proved to be

Nauru’s weightlifting President unable to attend Olympics because of state visit to Taiwan.

Three-times Olympic weightlifter and President of Nauru, *Marcus Stephen* has agreed to abandon plans to attend the Beijing Olympics in order to make a state visit to Taiwan next week. Marcus Stephen is the only triple Olympian President of State in the world.He said while he was extremely disappointed he would not be at the Olympics as president of the Oceania Weightlifting Federation, he believed it was important to further progress Nauru's interests with Taiwan as a major donor country."We have a number of projects on the board involving Taiwan, and I see the state visit as a very good opportunity to move them further towards reality. "I think it is important that the new Taiwanese head of state, President Ma, is fully briefed on certain projects involving Nauru's economic future, which were commenced with his predecessor and the state visit will enable me to explain their importance to Nauru face to face."Naturally, I am extremely disappointed that the state visit coincides with the Olympics, but I believe it is a matter of getting our priorities right. "President Stephen said as an Olympics veteran, he would have enjoyed the opportunity to be in Beijing, but he believed it would have been an act of selfishness on his part if he declined Taiwan's invitation in order to attend the Olympics."The State Visit was supposed to have taken place earlier this year, but the political instability and a looming general election prevented that from happening at that time. This visit will be a first for the Presidents of both countries. Nauru will be the first country to be hosted by the new President," he

85 countries’ lifters to compete in Beijing

Weightlifting will line up a record number of nations at the Beijing Olympic Games: 85. /The previous record was set up in Atlanta by 77 nations/ The following countries will send weightlifters for the first time to the Olympic Games: - from Africa: RSA (South Africa) - from Asia: KSA (Saudi Arabia), TJK (Tajikistan), VIE (Vietnam) - from Europe: CYP (Cyprus) - from Oceania: TUV (Tuvalu) After Beijing, the current number of nations - 137 - having participated in OG in weightlifting will rise to

Iraqi Athletes To Compete at Beijing Olympics

Lausanne, Switzerland � An agreement between the Iraqi government and the International Olympic Committee on Tuesday clears the way for Iraqi participation in the Olympic Games in Beijing.In a productive meeting at the IOC headquarters in Lausanne, the IOC and the Government of Iraq agreed on a series of steps that will lead to a fully functioning, independent National Olympic Committee in Iraq. The agreement re-establishes the independent NOC of Iraq which will be allowed to take part in the Beijing Games.Iraqi athletes will compete in Beijing under the Iraqi flag, led by coaches and team leaders selected by the independent Iraqi National Olympic Committee. Five government representatives will be invited by the IOC as observers to the Games in Beijing. The agreement also calls for the transparent and fair election of a new, independent Iraqi National Olympic Committee, no later than the end of November 2008. This process will be overseen by the IOC and the Olympic Council of Asia and will be held in cooperation with the Government of Iraq, and in accordance with the Olympic Charter.The IOC responded on 4 June by suspending the government-imposed committee. The IOC urged Iraqi officials to resolve the matter and issued an open invitation for a meeting in Lausanne. The deadline for competitors entering the Beijing Olympic Games for all events except athletics passed on 23 July. As a result, the slots for five Iraqi athletes have been redistributed, but two Iraqi athletics competitors will have the opportunity to compete in Beijing.

Hossein Rezazadeh

Olympic Champion in the +105kg at Sydney and Athens, *Hossein Rezazadeh *(IRI) announced that for health reasons and on medical advice he would not participate in