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Tears were shed on third day of the YWC

In the woman's 49kg bodyweight category all three gold medals went to Uzbek ABDULLAEVA Nigora, last years Asian Youth Champion (165kg). Second finisher, 2018 Youth Olympic Games bronze medallist and 2018 European Champion CAMBEI Mihaela Valentina (ROU) made a hard effort for a Clean and Jerk gold medal, but could not perform a good lift at her last attempt at 91kg, meaning ABDULLAEVA remained on the top with 90kg. Tears were shed by the 16-year old Romanian, she wanted to take home one gold at least. The bronze medal stayed home, American BRYANT Kaiya Lashay earned it with a 154kg Total result. There was a tense fight for the silver and bronze medals in men's 67kg bodyweight category, but there was no doubt about the first place. TAISUYEV Saikhan (KAZ) had an 18kg advantage at the end over Georgian silver medallist GIORBELIDZE Gurami (288kg). TAISUYEV set a new Clean and Jerk youth world record with his very last lift at 161kg. Turkmen REYIMOV Bektimur stood on the third podium, missing the silver with only one kilogram (269kg). Bronze medallist at the 2018 European Youth Championships, Belgian STERCKX Nina dominated the women's 55kg bodyweight category, beating her competitor, CHOU Yuan-Tzu (TPE) with 175kg and 172kg Total results respectively. We celebrated a Turkish medallist today too, after the success of previous days, OZKAN Cansel collected all three bronze medals in this category, Totaling one kilogram behind CHOU

IWF Education Seminar in Las Vegas

An Education Seminar was held in Las Vegas, USA on 9th March 2019, in conjunction with the IWF Youth World Championships. The seminar which consisted of two topics targeted the young athletes and their coaches. IWF General Secretary, Mr. Mohammed Jalood and IWF Executive Board member, Mr. Mahmoud Mahgoub also attended. The participants heard an interesting presentation about the whereabouts, its importance, the process of submission and whereabouts failures by Dr. Lilla Sagi and Ms. Reka Földesi. Moreover, information about the IWF iLiftClean E-learning Platform was given. To do the Course, please click here. As a second topic, Dr. Kyle Pierce, member of the IWF Coaching and Research Committee talked about recovery, adaptation, stress management and nutrition. The interest was high regarding this topic as several questions were raised after the presentations. Join the IWF at the next Education Seminar on 12th March and at the Outreach where athletes take iLiftClean photos with the famous IWF iLiftClean barbell and get IWF

Second day of the IWF Youth World Championships

In the men's 55kg bodyweight category, Italian MASSIDDA Sergio, 2018 European Youth, and Junior bronze medallist won the Snatch with a one-kilogram advantage over NAFASOV Ogabek (UZB). Performing even stronger in the Clean and Jerk, he came out to lift 125kg at his first attempt, which granted him all three gold medals (228kg). NAFASOV finished fourth in the Clean and Jerk, but his Total result of 223kg was enough for the overall silver medal. 2018 Pan-American Youth Champion POOX PERALTA Jose Manuel was the third runner up with a 217kg Total after grabbing the silver medal in Clean and Jerk. On the second competition of the day, the men's 61kg, Kazakh AKMOLDA Sairamkez stood on the top of the podium, the only one with six good lifts, totalling at 257kg. Three kilograms behind him, GENC Yusuf Fehmi (TUR) became second. Vietnamese BUI Dinh Sang, after a good start in the Snatch, a gold medal with 113kg, failed two of his Clean and Jerk attempts, and having only one successful lift of 130kg, he ended up in the third place in Total. It was easy to predict the medallists of the women's 40kg, as only three athletes competed in this bodyweight category.  Two of the medals went to Turkish lifters, gold medal for BEKTAS Cansu (120kg) and bronze to ULKER Zeliha (107kg). With 116kg Total, TPE HONG Zi Yu received the silver medal. Silver medallist at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games, NGUYEN Thi Thu Trang from Vietnam dominated the women's 45kg bodyweight category, with a Total of 141kg, took all three gold medals. SALDARIAGA YOVERA Anali Paola (PER) came in second 10kg behind NGUYEN and TPE ZENG Yi Fan earned the bronze with

The IWF Youth World Championships kicked off

The 2019 IWF Youth World Championships kicked off today, 8th March in Las Vegas, USA with the men's 49kg bodyweight category. Vietnamese DO Tu Tung, 2018 Asian Youth Champion started strong in the Snatch, setting a new youth world record at 95kg with his second attempt. He continued the great performance in the Clean and Jerk, coming out last, set the youth world record at 117kg and immediately improved to 125kg, Totaling 220kg, which is also a youth world record. DO had a whopping 40kg advantage over the second finisher, Romanian KRUPLA Florin Cosmin (180kg). ERDOGAN Mustafa (TUR), 2018 European Youth Championships bronze medallist came in third with a 177kg Total result and also received a silver medal in the Snatch (82kg). VARGAS SANTOS Joe Isaa (ECU) picked up the Clean and Jerk bronze medal with three good lifts, finishing at

IWF Executive Board meeting and Congress in Las Vegas

The first Executive Board meeting and Congress of 2019 were held in Las Vegas, USA prior to the Youth World Championships, 5-8 March. Executive Board Meeting The Board agreed to launch an IWF Strategic Plan 2020 - 2024 to strengthen the IWF's position in the global sport environment and the Olympic Movement. Its elaboration will be preceded by a wide consultation with Member Federations and other members of the weightlifting family to achieve an athlete centred, sport focused concept. The EB welcomed the IOC initiatiave of a Refugee team for Tokyo 2020. It set the task of outlining the concept of Refugee athlete. The Executive Board also allocated upcoming IWF World Championships. Jeddah, Saudi Arabia was appointed as the host of the 2021 Junior World Championships. This event will be of historic significance of more than one point of view: it will be the first World Championship and certainly the first to include women is Saud Arabia.  Tashkent, Uzbekistan - host of several recent World Championships - was voted as host of the 2021 IWF Youth World Championships. With respect to Thailand's multiple AAF's and their potential consequences that seriously damage the integrity of the sport, Thai Amateur Weightlifting Association (TAWA) undertakes not to participate at any IWF events, including the Qualification Events and the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.  The IWF Executive Board acknowledged TAWA's undertaking. TAWA still continues to fulfil its obligation and will deliver the organisation of the 2019 IWF World Championships despite the fact that no Thai athletes will be entitled to participate. Congress Congress delegates received reports of Committees and Executive Board. A new member was entered into the Weightlifting Hall of Fame: Ing. Miguel Nino from Nicaragua was honoured for his lifetime devotion and contributions to weightlifting. His condition not permitting personal appearance, the recognition was taken over by his son. Mr Jose Quinones, IWF Vice President and Chairman of the Development and Education Commission gave a report on the 2019 IWF Development Program and Olympic Solidarity. The Financial Report was also presented to the Congress by Alain Siegrist and the delegates approved the KPMG Auditor’s Report for the year 2018 and the IWF Budget Status Report for 2019. Finally, an election of Technical Committee Member was held to replace Mr Aleksandr Kurlovich, who passed away last April. From five candidates, Mr Pedro Sanchez (AUS) recieved the highest number of votes, 37 from a total of 59 countries present and voting. Delegates received reports on the preparation of future events and three sponsors of the IWF, Eleiko, UESAKA and

IWF Committee Meetings in Las Vegas

After the joint meeting, all 3 IWF Committees held their meetings prior to the 2019 IWF Youth World Championships Las Vegas, USA to kick off on 8 March. Technical Committee First, the new Video Playback Technology was introduced to the Technical Committee Members. Teaming up with Dartfish, IWF will be able to use the new technology to clarify controversial decisions and undertake medical and coaching researches. The 2019 IWF Youth World Championships will be the first occasion to record and archive the lifts of athletes. Next on agenda was the ITO Appointment Policy modification. A proposal was accepted, explaining that TC should encourage athletes’ further participation in World Championships, prepare for athletes’ pathway for being ITOs and enforce TC’s more involvement into the process of TO Selection and allocation. The Members also discussed some remaining item from the Ashgabat meeting, such as Technical Officials training, examination, selection, location, and evaluation. Last but not least, the Members agreed on the 4-year plan.   Coaching and Research Committee The Coaching and Research Committee had several topics on its Agenda for the meeting in Las Vegas. First, the IWF Female Train the Trainers Course, held in February 2019 was evaluated and the next steps were decided such as focusing on updating the web material. CRC agreed on the guidelines on appointing presenters for IWF Coaching Courses. The Members discussed the new IWF Technical Rules and impact on the sport, especially the newly introduced video playback. There was a discussion about the E-learning platform for Coaches to be introduced in 2019. Several alternatives have been examined and the new platform is planned to be presented at the Senior World Championships. IWF wishes to launch a Coaches' Corner on its website where anyone with a passion for Olympic weightlifting can learn and share knowledge. Publication guidelines will be created to facilitate the submission of articles. Medical Committee The IWF Medical Committee had a fruitful meeting in Las Vegas, concentrating on the key points of the 4-year work plan. The Chairman, Dr. Michael Irani and the MC Members discussed the updates of the Transgender topic regarding Caster Semanya and Dutee Chand vs. IAAF case, which may affect the Transgender Guideline of the International Olympic Committee. The other focus point of the meeting was -  also important elements of the 4-year plan -  the research projects of the Members. Several projects were presented and discussed by the Medical Committee Members, such as: Hip – Waist – Girth - for which data will be collected at the Youth World Championships; Hip problems of the Athletes; Sport Specialization in Elite USA Weightlifting Athletes; Mental health of the Athlete. Follow us on social media: Facebook Instagram Twitter YouTube