Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, is the site of both an important Executive Board meeting for the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF), as well as the Youth World Championships — held from Oct. 5-12, 2021, where Team USA athlete Hampton Morris has already seized new world records.
Per IWF’s press release, the meeting was scheduled to discuss good governance measures and “making key decisions aimed at implementing the recently-adopted Constitution.”
The new, independently drafted IWF Constitution was adopted on Aug. 29, 2021, and the election rules for the IWF Athletes Commission were approved. That means that athletes will have a stronger voice on the IWF Executive Board:
Three athlete representatives will then go on to become members of the IWF Executive Board and also have a vote at the IWF Congress.
Since the IWF Executive Board approved the election rules for the Athlete Commission, those rules will now be subject to the approval of the Electoral Commission. Assuming they also approve the rules, the IWF will provide details of the electoral process to its member federations.
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[Related: Weightlifter Shi Zhiyong Lifts Unofficial Snatch and Total World Records at National Games of China]
In the press release, IWF Interim President Dr. Michael Irani stated that the IWF is “determined to follow up on the clean weightlifting competitions of Tokyo 2020 with clean World Championships. After turning a corner, it is vital that weightlifting stays on the right track.”
The Right Track
The IWF is taking action to mitigate the risk of weightlifting potentially losing its spot on the program of future Olympic Games. Although the total athlete quota was lowered for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, weightlifting in particular lost 76 slots — the most of any sport — due to the high volume of anti-doping violations.
The 2021 IWF World Championships and IWF Electoral Congress are scheduled for Dec. 7-17, 2021, in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The Congress will elect a new president since Irani lacks the support of his country’s member federation, British Weightlifting — a requirement to be an eligible candidate.
Former IWF Acting President Ursula Papandrea, who was ousted from that position in October 2020, recently announced her bid for the presidency.
Featured image: @iwfnet on Instagram
