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Save Weightlifting

Within a month, Weightlifting could lose Olympic Status

Weightlifting has been an Olympic sport since the first modern Olympic Games in 1886. It has been featured in every Olympic Games since 1920. Being at the Olympics is a huge part of our identity as a sport. The dream of an Olympic medal or even just becoming an Olympian is what pushes the best weightlifters to make the sacrifices they do for the sport.

A vote that will be taken by IWF Congress at the end of August could lead to weightlifting rapidly losing its position as an Olympic sport and being removed from the programme for Paris 2024.

Weightlifting would survive removal from the Olympics but it would be a very different sport. For at least a time it would be much diminished.

If you want Weightlifting to stay in the Olympics, the time to act is now.

What is the Vote On?

After several years of chaos at the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) which have seen extensive corruption allegations, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has issued an ultimatum – adopt a new constitution or face losing Olympic status.

The risk was underlined by a change to IOC rules made recently which would make it easier to remove a sport from future Games. The IOC made it clear that this change was aimed at weightlifting.

The IOC wants to see new leadership at the IWF to draw a line under decades of problems. It wants the IWF constitution to ensure this by barring those who have been involved in doping themselves or who represent nations suspended due to doping cases. It also wants more power for athletes.

A constitution that met the IOC’s requirements failed to pass just before the Olympics, with national federations split 50:50 (two-thirds must support a new constitution for it to pass)

The ‘old guard’ of existing IWF board members has proposed an alternative constitution that would enable them to keep their positions. However, the lawyer and independent experts who drew it up now say that it will not be accepted by the IOC.

What Can We Do?

The key vote will be taken by the IWF Congress. Each member federation gets one vote, no matter how large or small they are.

Sadly, most of these votes have most likely already been decided based on where the loyalties of those who run the national federations lie. However, some of them might be undecided. It is just possible that collectively, weightlifting athletes, coaches and fans could convince a few undecided federations to vote for change at the IWF and help save weightlifting as an Olympic sport.

We’re asking everyone to do three things:

  1. Right now, email your own federation to ask them to vote in support of reform (sample email and list of federations below)
  2. On Saturday 28th August, post on social media to let everyone know why weightlifting being in the Olympics is important fo you.
  3. Convince other members of the weightlifting family to do the same – share this page with them if that will help

Maybe, just maybe, we can make a difference. If it doesn’t work, at least we can say that we tried.

 

1 – Email Your National Federation

Below is a list of every IWF member federation and, where we could find it, their email address.

Contacting your federation is especially important if it is one of the smaller ones. However, even if you are sure how your federation will vote, it is still worth the small amount of time to send an email. Knowing that their members want reform may help in the discussions that will take place at the congress.

We suggest a very simple email along these lines:

 

 

Dear Sir or Madam,

I think weightlifting being in the Olympic Games is important for our national federation. Losing Olympic status would cause great harm. Since the IOC has made it clear that a failure to reform the IWF would lead to Olympic status being removed, I do not think further delay should be risked.

I am contacting you to ask that you use the vote of the national federation to vote for reform at the IWF Constitutional Congress on 29–30 August.

It is also important to me personally that I am part of an Olympic sport. Please do not take that away by failing to vote for reform.

I ask you to vote against the draft constitution proposed by the IWF Executive Board. This proposal will not meet the requirements of the IOC.

I ask you to vote for the original draft constitution and for the proposal that the Executive Board should resign, those on both sides of the dispute should stand aside for independent leadership and new elections should take place under the new constitution.

Regards,

 

 

Please do edit this to add your personal reasons why it is important for weightlifting to remain part of the Olympic Games.

Country Code Email
Afghanistan AFG afghan.weightlifting@yahoo.com
Albania ALB albaniaweightliftingfed@hotmail.com
Algeria ALG fhaltero_algeria@yahoo.fr
Antigua And Barbuda ANT  
Argentina ARG info@fap.org.ar
Armenia ARM armnoc.info@gmail.com
Aruba ARU huthe@setarnet.aw
American Samoa ASA ed_imo@yahoo.com
Australia AUS imoir@awf.com.au
Austria AUT oegv@aon.at
Azerbaijan AZE sc_azal@mail.ru
Bahamas BAH bobbybrown7888@gmail.com
Bangladesh BAN fahmid_shishir@yahoo.com
Barbados BAR shgriff@caribsurf.com
Burundi BDI fh.burundi@gmail.com
Belgium BEL tom.goegebuer@telenet.be
Bhutan BHU stlhakicement@gmail.com
Bosnia And Herzegovina BIH sdtbih@isaneh.com
Belize BIZ  
Belarus BLR belwu@rambler.ru
Bolivia BOL thanatos57@hotmail.com
Botswana BOT alexrankgwe@yahoo.com
Brazil BRA cblp@cblp.org.br
Bahrain BRN info@bwf.bh
Brunei Darussalam BRU harungym@mail.com
Bulgaria BUL wfbulgaria@abv.bg
Cambodia CAM cwfederation2018@gmail.com
Canada CAN cwalker@cwfhc.ca
Cayman Islands CAY  
Congo CGO sabayefernant@yahoo.fr
Chile CHI administracion@fechipe.cl
People’S Republic Of China CHN chinaweightlifting@sports.cn
Cameroun CMR fedehac@yahoo.fr
Democratic Republic Of The Congo COD donluviya@yahoo.fr
Cook Islands COK kisilepea@hotmail.com
Colombia COL fedepesascolombia@gmail.com
Comoros COM mze_hamadi_abou@yahoo.fr
Cape Verde CPV fecahalter@gmail.com
Costa Rica CRC sesquivel67@gmail.com
Croatia CRO dizacki.savez@gmail.com
Cuba CUB cubpesa@inder.cu
Curacao CUR curacaoweightliftingfederation@gmail.com
Cyprus CYP info@weightlifting.org.cy
Czech Republic CZE vzpirani@cstv.cz
Denmark DEN kontor@danskvaegtloeftning.dk
Dominican Republic DOM fedompesa@gmail.com
Ecuador ECU federaciondelevdepesas@gmail.com
Egypt EGY weightlifting_egy@yahoo.com
El Salvador ESA fedepesas@gmail.com
Spain ESP competiciones@fedehalter.org
Estonia EST info@etl.ee
Ethiopia ETH anticaye_pi@yahoo.com
Fiji FIJ della_elder@yahoo.com
Finland FIN toimisto@painonnosto.fi
France FRA contact@ffhaltero.fr
Federated States Of Micronesia FSM fsmnoc@mail.fm
Gambia GAM gwagambia2008@gmail.com
Great Britain GBR ashley.metcalfe@britishweightlifting.org
Georgia GEO info@geowf.ge
Equatorial Guinea GEQ presidentefeguihapkido@yahoo.es
Germany GER leistungssport@bvdg-online.de
Ghana GHA ghanaweightlifting2017@yahoo.com
Greece GRE info@weightlifting.gr
Guatemala GUA info@fedepesas.org.gt
Guinea GUI  
Guam GUM bongangelo1971@gmail.com
Guyana GUY g_a_w_a@yahoo.com
Haiti HAI fgefong@yahoo.fr
Hong Kong, China HKG pokkimwon@hkwpa.org.hk
Honduras HON coh@ficohsa.hn
Hungary HUN fotitkar@msszinfo.hu
Indonesia INA pbpabsi_1940@yahoo.com
India IND iwlf2008@gmail.com
Islamic Republic Of Iran IRI iriwf@iriwf.org
Ireland IRL president@weightliftingireland.com
Iraq IRQ iraqiwlfed@yahoo.com
Iceland ISL lsi@lsi.is
Israel ISR isrowf@gmail.com
U.S. Virgin Islands ISV  
Italy ITA segreteria@federpesi.it
Jamaica JAM binaadlo@aol.com
Jordan JOR jorweightlifting@gmail.com
Japan JPN weightlifting@japan-sports.or.jp
Kazakhstan KAZ office@wfrk.kz
Kenya KEN weightliftingkenya@yahoo.com
Kyrgyzstan KGZ wfkgz@mail.ru
Kiribati KIR teviituriano@gmail.com
Republic Of Korea KOR weightlifting@sports.or.kr
Kosovo KOS kosovaweightlifting@gmail.com
Saudi Arabia KSA president@swf.sa
Kuwait KUW kuwaitwf@gmail.com
Lao People’S Democratic Republic LAO khamlouangkk@gmail.com
Latvia LAT info_lsf@inbox.lv
Libya LBA lwf_1963@hotmail.com
Lebanon LBN lebanon_wf@hotmail.com
Liberia LBR thosh_bei@yahoo.com
Lesotho LES agselepe@yahoo.com
Lithuania LTU satletika@lsaf.lt
Luxembourg LUX fedluxh@pt.lu
Macau, China MAC macaoawa@gmail.com
Madagascar MAD fmhrh@yahoo.fr
Morocco MAR frmhmaroc@gmail.com
Malaysia MAS msianweightlifting@hotmail.com
Malawi MAW awkamngona@medicol.mw
Republic Of Moldova MDA antonio.conflitti@icloud.com
Maldives MDV haleem@muscleload.com
Mexico MEX drchaliofmlp@hotmail.com
Mongolia MGL noc@olympic.mn
Marshall Islands MHL minocsedo@gmail.com
Mali MLI femahalt@yahoo.fr
Malta MLT maltaweightlifting@gmail.com
Monaco MON marc_krettly@hotmail.com
Mauritius MRI mauritius.weightlifting@hotmail.com
Mauritania MTN  
Myanmar MYA mwf1946.mm@gmail.com
Nicaragua NCA fenilep2017@gmail.com
New Caledonia NCL ctosnc@offratel.nc
Netherlands NED info@dutchweightlifting.nl
Nepal NEP weightlifting_nepal@yahoo.com
Nigeria NGR nigweightliftingfed@yahoo.com
Northern Ireland NIR teasymac@hotmail.com
Niue NIU narita.viliamu@mail.gov.nu
Northern Marianas NMI cnmiweightlifting@gmail.com
Norway NOR vektlofting@nif.idrett.no
Norfolk Islands NRF diamonds@ni.net.nf
Nauru NRU tdabwido@gmail.com
New Zealand NZL info@olympicweightlifting.nz
Oman OMA oman.weightlifting@gmail.com
Pakistan PAK pakistanwf1@gmail.com
Panama PAN phillips2019@hotmail.com
Paraguay PAR claudefph@hotmail.com
Peru PER levperu@yahoo.es
Philippines PHI rmr_31@yahoo.com
Palestine PLE pwlf@poc.ps
Palau PLW pnoc@palaunet.com
Papua New Guinea PNG sirjndee45@gmail.com
Poland POL biuro@pzpc.pl
Portugal POR fph@sapo.pt
Democratic People’S Republic Of Korea PRK prksport@star-co.net.kp
Puerto Rico PUR flppr.halterofilia@gmail.com
Qatar QAT qwlbb@olympic.qa
Romania ROU frh@frhaltere.ro
South Africa RSA gduplooy800@gmail.com
Russian Federation RUS info@rfwf.ru
Rwanda RWA rwandaweightliftingfed@gmail.com
Samoa SAM jerrywallwork@hotmail.com
Scotland SCO colinhannah3@btinternet.com
Senegal SEN ibaawathioye@yahoo.fr
Seychelles SEY weightliftingseychelles@gmail.com
Singapore SGP swf@swf.org.sg
Sierra Leone SLE secgenabpf@live.co.uk
Slovenia SLO wlslovenia@gmail.com
San Marino SMR federpesistica.sm@gmail.com
Solomon Islands SOL nocsi@solomon.com.sb
Somalia SOM somaliweightlifting@yahoo.com
Serbia SRB ssdt.office@gmail.com
Sri Lanka SRI srilankawf@yahoo.com
Sudan SUD wfsudan@yahoo.com
Switzerland SUI matthias.grieder@polymed.ch
Suriname SUR m.r.kanhai@sr.net
Slovakia SVK szv@vzpieranie.sk
Sweden SWE office@tyngdlyftning.org
Eswatini SWZ horstsayler@yahoo.com
Syrian Arab Republic SYR syr.weightlifting@membergsf.com
Tahiti TAH pothier.c.gym@mail.pf
United Republic Of Tanzania TAN t_twf@hotmail.com
Turks & Caicos Islands TCA marcus@hortonrealty.tc
Tonga TGA mikeb@rfb.to
Thailand THA tawa@tawa.or.th
Tajikistan TJK tjwf@mail.ru
Turkmenistan TKM tkmweightlifting@gmail.com
Democratic Republic Of Timor-Leste TLS glaurentino@yahoo.com
Chinese Taipei TPE ctwa@hotmail.com.tw
Trinidad And Tobago TTO scateau@yahoo.com
Tunisia TUN fthalttn@yahoo.com
Turkey TUR halter@gsb.gov.tr
Tuvalu TUV tuvalunocsg@gmail.com
United Arab Emirates UAE uaewf@eim.ae
Uganda UGA smssenkungu@yahoo.com
Ukraine UKR weightlifting@ukr.net
Uruguay URU juliolezama49@hotmail.com
United States Of America USA phil.andrews@usaweightlifting.org
Uzbekistan UZB uzbek_weightlifting@yahoo.com
Vanuatu VAN ceo.vasanoc@vanuatu.com.vu
Venezuela VEN fedepesasvenezuela@gmail.com
Vietnam VIE khangchienvn@gmail.com
St. Vincent And The Grenadines VIN svgweightlifting@gmail.com
Wales WAL simon.roach@weightlifting.wales
Wallis And Futuna WLF futunagym@mail.wf
Yemen YEM ywlf2002@hotmail.com
Zambia ZAM zwfederation@gmail.com
Zanzibar ZAN zanzibarweightliftinga@gmail.com
Zimbabwe ZIM nyawogeorge@yahoo.co.uk

2 – Post On Social Media on August 28

The key votes will happen on August 29-30, so Saturday August 28 could be our last chance to show our support for weightlifting as an Olympic sport.

The only thing we can do at that stage is post our reasons why it is so important that weightlifting remains in the Olympics and hope that those with the votes will listen.

Please use the hashtag #saveweightlifting and on Instagram mention us with @weightlifting_house so we can repost your contribution.

3 – Share the Campaign

Please reach out to anyone in the weightlifting world who can help spread the message.

If you know anyone who is a member of any of the smaller national federations, this is particularly important. They have a real chance to swing some votes in favour of reform.