News and Media
Wolfgang Peter turned 90!
IWF Honorary Life Vice President Wolfgang PETER (GER) just turned 90 years old! Mr. Peter was first elected to the IWF Executive Board in 1976 and served for 20 years including being 1st Vice President and President of the Medical Committee. In 1994 he became a Member of the Weightlifting Hall of Fame. The IWF and the Weightlifting Family extend warm congratulations and best wishes on his 90th
David Rigert turned 70
Sunday was a special for David Rigert as he turned 70. The Russian-German, born in the land of Kazahstan started his weightlifting career in 1966 following the coaching technic of Arkady Vorobyov. In 1969, he got the chance to meet the famous athlete – who later turned to be coach - Michael Rudolf Plukfelder, who helped him achieve his very first success. After 1970, David Rigert became part of the National Team and won a Bronz Medal at the World Championships. Although he had not much of a success at the Munich 1972 Olympic Games, he started to achieve better and better results. In 1971, in the men’s 90 kg bodyweight category he became the World Champion for the first time and in 1978 he won his 6th World Championships Gold. Between 1973 and 1976 he won all World Championships and all European Championships titles as well. He was nine times Continental Champion while his biggest achievement is an Olympic Gold at the Montreal 1976 Olympic Games. He set his first Word Records in 1971 and many more followed - 68 exactly. After retirement he helped to build several coaching centers, he was also the coach of the Soviet then Russian Team and honorary citizen of three cities Taganrog, Grozny and Chornomorsk. In 1999 he became Member of the IWF Hall of Fame. Happy 70th Birthday to David
EWF Coaches Scientific Conference
The European Weightlifting Federation with the cooperation of Weightlifting Federation of Slovakia organized a Coaches Scientific Conference supported by International Weightlifting Federation. The first day started with the opening speeches of Dr. Antonio Urso EWF President, Mr. Richard Rasi Mayor of Kosice, Mr. Anton Siekel President of Slovak Olympic Committee, Mr. Attila Adamfi IWF Director General and Mr. Victor Guman President of Slovak Weightlifting Federation. Coaches from more than 20 European countries attended the two-day long course in the beautiful city of Kosice where different presentations were made in the topics of Sports Nutrition, Weightlifting Technique, Functional training. On the second day the participants moved to the gym where mainly the practical sessions took place and a session of Anti-Doping Seminars held by the Education Manager of the Slovak Anti-Doping Agency, Dr. Lubomír Gulán and the Legal Counsel of the IWF, Dr. Eva Nyirfa. During the two day simultaneous interpretation helped the better
Universiade Test Event embraces Lifter of the Year Award Ceremony in Taipei
A Test Event has been held for the 2017 Summer Universiade in Taipei City, which will be the host of the FISU Games, the second largest sporting event of the world after the Olympic Games, this coming August. The competitions took place in the Universiade venue at the Tamkang University. A 2-day IWF Seminar preceded the Test Event to train the ITOs and NTOs of the host country with the involvement of Reiko Chinen, IWF Technical Committee Member and Weightlifting Competition Manager of Tokyo 2020. The Opening Ceremony and the presence of the media provided an excellent opportunity to present the "Jenő Boskovics Lifter of the Year Trophy", which Chinese Taipei's double Olympic Champion Hsu Shu-Ching had won in WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING's voting for 2015. IWF Honorary Vice President Chang Chao-Kuo and the magazine's Senior Editor and FISU Technical Delegate Aniko Nemeth-Mora presented the well-deserved Trophy to the outstanding
16 “Wonder Women” named in the Philippines
This International Women’s Month, several organizations honored some women from the Philippines who excel in showbiz, art, sports, science, business, and other previously male-dominated fields. On March 8, International Women’s Day, multinational agency J. Walter Thompson gathered the following women leaders to empower the next generation of Filipinas: Hidilyn Diaz, Armie Jarin-Bennett, Pia Cayetano and Issa Cabreira. Hidilyn Diaz, weightlifter, long before she ended the country’s 20-year Olympic medal drought by claiming silver in the 53-kg division of the women’s weightlifting event at the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Hidilyn Diaz accomplished an even greater feat: she smashed the stereotype of a female in two male-dominated fields. Through the years, the four-foot-nine native of Zamboanga City has won medals from the Southeast Asian Games, Asian Games, and other international weightlifting competitions. An Olympian since 2008, Diaz is also a member of the Philippine Air Force, with the rank of Airwoman First Class. Voted Athlete of the Year in 2016 by the Philippine Sportswriters Association, she now has her eyes on the ultimate prize: a Gold Medal in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Other nominated “Wonder Women” are: Armie Jarin-Bennett, CNN Philippines president; Pia Cayetano, politician; Issa Cabreira, Globe Telecom senior vice president / head of consumer mobile marketing; Trickie Lopa, art advocate; Tina Sabarre, Johnson Johnson country director for retail; Vicki Belo, Belo Medical Group chief executive officer; Melissa Henson, Manulife Philippines senior vice president and chief marketing officer; Rosario Oreta Lapus, Miriam College president; Stephanie Sy, Silicon Valley data scientist; Valenice Balace, Forbes’ ’30 Under 30 Asia’; Ros Juan, entrepreneur; Monette Iturralde-Hamlin, publicist; Rowie Matti, educator; Chesca Garcia-Kramer, multimedia personality; Rica Peralejo-Bonifacio, multimedia personality. Congratulations to all women leaders who empower the next generation! Source: daily
Thailand’s Sport Awards 2016
The SIAMSPORT Awards 2016 was held in Bangkok, THA on 6 March 2017 and gave recognition to outstanding athletes in Thailand. The ceremony takes place annually - this year for the eleventh time. Thailand’s Sport Awards 2016 is the most popular press event in Thailand rewarding major sport personalities. Best Female Athlete of the Year: Sukanya SRISURAT (Rio 2016 Olympic Champion) Best Coach of the Year: Aree WIRATTHAWORN (Athens 2004 Olympic Champion) Most Outstanding Female Athlete of the Year: Pimsiri SIRIKAEW (London 2012 & Rio 2016 Olympic Champion) Best Sport Association of the Year: Thai Amateur Weightlifting Association (TAWA) Congratulations to the TAWA and all the recipients! Source:
