IWF Executive Board Welcomes Progress, Picks Future Wold Championships Host City
The IWF Executive Board today welcomed the ongoing progress that has been made in protecting clean weightlifters and developing the sport around the world development, and selected Lima, PER as host for the 2021 IWF World Championships.
The meeting took place in Ashgabat on the eve of the IWF Congress and the 2018 IWF World Championships. Anti-doping reports were presented by the Anti-Doping Commission, and the Independent Clean Sport Commission, and the Executive Board members approved a roadmap for cooperation with the newly-formed International Testing Agency. All acknowledged the remarkable progress made by the IWF in making the IWF a leader in anti-doping.
“For years now, the IWF has clearly demonstrated its commitment to protecting clean weightlifters and to promoting clean weightlifting,” said IWF President Tamas Ajan. “It is a commitment we have backed with very significant resources, with innovative programmes, with independent guidance and oversight and the support of expert partners. The cumulative effect of all this hard work has been the transformation of weightlifting and its culture. The IWF Executive Board was pleased to recognise this great progress, which has been noted by independent organisations, while renewing our commitment to ensuring it is a lasting change.”
The development of weightlifting around the world was also a key theme of the meeting. Reports were presented on development programmes, work carried out under the auspices of Olympic Solidarity, the IWF Women’s Commission, the Membership Commission and the successful work of enabling young weightlifters to flourish at the recent Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympic Games. “As a great sport in itself and as the foundation for so many other sports, weightlifting’s fundamental components of strength, mobility and technical proficiency are universally appreciated and universally valuable,” said President Ajan. “The IWF is very proud of our work and that of our 192 member federations in helping as many people as possible enjoy those benefits.”
The IWF’s governance was the subject of a report by James Carr of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations, finding the IWF to be strong in a number of areas, including transparency. Room from improvement identified in other areas was met with a commitment from IWF to take the appropriate action.
Lima was selected as host of the IWF 2021 World Championships. The IWF Executive Committee commended the passion and professionalism of the strong bid put together by Peru. “The IWF is very privileged to have a host of such high quality for the 2021 World Championships,” said President Ajan. “We look forward to our first competition after the Tokyo 2021 Olympic Games with great confidence for the future of the sport that we love and that we work so hard for.”
