COMMONWEALTH WEIGHTLIFTING FEDERATION

Latest News June, 2012

INDIA DOMINATES COMMONWEALTH CHAMPIONSHIPS The 2012 Commonwealth Championships for Senior, Junior and Youth – men and women – were held in Samoa on June 4

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to 9th, in conjunction with the Oceania Championships. The large contingent of the Indian delegation dominated the

championships. They won the team event in the men and women, senior, junior and youth. We would like to thank the

President of the Indian Weightlifting Federation Shri Birendra Prasad Baishya and also the General Secretary Mr Sahdev

Yadav for bringing a team of 60 athletes and officials to Samoa. These are the top 10 countries for men and women in

the senior categories classification:

TEAM CLASSIFICATION WOMEN’S TEAM CLASSIFICATION

1 India 634points 1 India 548 points

2 New Zealand 506 2 Australia 470

3 Australia 479 3 Papua new Guinea 402

4 Papua New Guinea 437 4 New Zealand 383

5 Samoa 430 5 Samoa 374

6 Kiribati 395 6 Solomon Islands 146

7 Tonga 336 7 Canada 78

8 Nauru 326 8 Cook Islands 66

9 Canada 71 9 Tonga 65

10 Niue 66 10 Nauru 54

The opening ceremony of the 2012 Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships in Samoa on June 5

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The championships were a great success and a special thanks must go to the Prime Minister The Hon. Tuilaepa Lupesoliai

Sailele Malielegaoi and the Government of Samoa for financing and supporting this major event which coincided with the

celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Samoa’s Independence. And also to Jerry Wallwork, the Chairman of the Organising

Committee, for his outstanding work, in organising such a major event.

The Hon. Vinson Detenamo ,President of The Hon. Marcus Stephen OWF The President of the Indian Weightlifting Federation and Vice President

the CWF enjoys the Opening Ceremony President with Dr Tamas Ajan of the CWF presents medals in the 63Kg category for women.

The venue was brilliantly set up with the training hall only 100 metres away from the competition venue.The television

coverage was excellent – with live television for the three and half day event including the opening ceremony.The Opening

Ceremony was vibrant in typical Samoan fashion. The Samoa Police Force did an excellent job in escorting the VIP’s. The

Organising Committee gave all countries the opportunity to make their own accommodation arrangements, thereby allowing

each country to stay within their own budgets. The unique buses of Samoa were utilized to transport teams and officials to

and from the competition and training venues.

Typical Samoan buses transporting the lifters staying Hundreds of school children enjoying the entertainment CWF Vice President Dato Ong

at different hotels through out Apia.. during the breaks. Poh Eng enjoys the championships

Having the President of the IWF, Dr. Tamas Ajan in Samoa, attending the championships for the full week was a great

honour .Let’s hope that he can also attend the Commonwealth Championships next year in Malta.

On the technical side, the referees under the management of Sam Coffa IWF Vice President & Chairman of the IWF

Technical Commission, worked extremely hard as they were limited in numbers. The CWF would like to thank all referees

who attended for their contribution to the event. Special thanks must also go to Dato Ong Poh Eng, IWF Executive Board

Member and Vice President of the CWF for coming in from Malaysia to assist on the technical side. Also we would like to

thank Tom Liaw, Executive Board member of the CWF for coming all the way from Singapore.

CWF/OWF combined seminars

As part of the development program of the IWF, seminars were conducted during the week of the championships.

A technical seminar for club and national referees was conducted on Monday June 4th at the Millenia Hotel by

Garry Marshall Vice President of the CWF (New Zealand).

An administration seminar was also conducted by Attila Adamfi from the IWF, prior to the verification of entries on June 4

th.

On June 5th, Matthew Curtain, the Weightlifting Manager of the London Olympics made a presentation on the final

stages of the Games preparations.

A more advanced referees seminar for Category 1 and Category 2 was conducted by Sam Coffa – Chairman of the IWF Technical Commission on June 5

th at the Millenia Hotel.

On June 7th an athletes educational program was presented by Michael Keelan from Australia. The seminar was

well attended by many young lifters. This was followed by a presentation on cultural assimilation by Trent Dabwido the CWF Assistant Secretary from Nauru. Both lecturers were very informative and relevant to the attendees. Dr. Moni Kami did a presentation on injury prevention and nutrition.

On June 8th Lyn Jones gave a lecture on coaching. . Lyn in his usual manner was very inspiring with his points very

relevant to the coaches who attended. .

The ADAMS whereabouts lecture was postponed to London and it will be done during the CWF Congress in London on August 5

th, as it will be attended by many countries and therefore more advantageous to CWF countries.

Michael Keelan (Australia) and Trent Dabwido (Nauru) lecturing at the Athletes from the Pacific Islands attending the athletes education seminar.

Athletes Education seminar at the Millenia Hotel in Samoa.

CWF Congress –

The CWF Annual Congress will be held in London on the 5th August, at 9.00am in

the morning. Thanks to our Vice President, Matthew Curtain, we have been able

to secure the Capital Suite – Level 3 at the Olympic weightlifting venue for the

congress. The President of the CGF, HRH Prince Imran has been invited to attend,

as has the President of the IWF, Dr. Tamas Ajan. The meeting is to last no more

than two hours. There will no lifting on that day, until 3.00pm in the afternoon and

for this reason Matthew Curtain has been able to organize the 5th August.

Commonwealth countries competing in London -

These are the countries from the Commonwealth competing at this month’s Olympic Games. The CWF wishes all the

commonwealth countries and commonwealth officials attending the London Olympics all the very best.

Countries: Technical officials from Commonwealth countries in London:

1 Australia Oceania Mr Sam Coffa Australia 2 Cook Islands Oceania Mr Pedro Sanchez Australia 3 Fiji Oceania Mr Boris Kayser Australia 4 Kiribati Oceania Ms Mary Hancock Great Britain 5 Nauru Oceania Dr Michael Irani Great Britain 6 New Zealand Oceania Dato Ong Poh Eng Malaysia 7 Papua New Guinea Oceania Mr Jesmond Caruana Malta 8 Samoa Oceania Mr Gary Marshall New Zealand 9 Solomon Islands Oceania Mrs Hester Montgomery South Africa 10 Tuvalu Oceania Mr Horst Sayler Swaziland 11 India Asia Mr Ssenkungu Musoke Uganda 12 Singapore Asia 13 Great Britain Europe 14 Canada Pan Am 15 Cameroon Africa 16 Ghana Africa 17 Kenya Africa 18 Nigeria Africa 19 South Africa Africa 20 Uganda Africa

ExCeL London, the weightlifting venue for the XXX Olympiad

London 2012 Olympic Games The London Olympic Games known also as the XXX Olympiad will commence within 27 days from now. Knowing Matthew Curtain, the competition manager and his extraordinary capabilities in running events, this will be the best ever organized Olympic event. There will be nothing amiss. Matthew and his excellent team will undoubtedly deliver an event to remember. We look forward to great battles, huge crowds, massive television coverage and a brilliant organization.

OTHER NEWS

British Olympic Champion honored in Melbourne -

A number of Oceania Weightlifting Institute lifters, Lapua Lapua (Tuvalu), Manueli Tulo (Fiji), Elson

Brechtefeld (Nauru), Takenibeia Toromon (Kiribati), David Katoatau (Kiribti), Ika Aliklik (Nauru),

Manuel Minginfel (FSM) Bronco Deiranauw (Nauru) and Paul Coffa visited the grave of

Launceston Elliot at the Fawkner cemetery in Melbourne to pay their respects.

Launceston Elliot was Britian’s first Olympic champion in weightlifting. He was the first lifter to

win a gold medal in the sport of weightlifting at the 1896 first modern Olympic Games in

Athens. He migrated to Australia in 1923 and passed away seven years later in August, 1930.

Eighty years after being largely forgotten in an unmarked grave in Melbourne, the dual British

Olympic champion and London Games chief, Lord Sebastian Coe visited the grave last year whilst

in Melbourne and made sure that a headstone was organized stating that it was a sacrilege that a

great man such as Launceston Elliot had not been recognized. ]

2013 Commonwealth Championships -MALTA

Welcome to Malta . The 2013 Commonwealth Senior ,Junior and Youth

Championships will be held in Malta from the 22nd

to the 28th April next year.

It will be 10 years since Malta held a Commonwealth Championships.

Jesmond Caruana the President of the Maltese Weightlifting Federation,

assures that everyone will have a great time in Malta. Not only with the

hospitality but also the weather in April will be perfect as it is spring time.

He has also assured that the championships would be run at the highest

level. Jesmond will make a full report on August 5th during the CWF

Congress in London to update everyone on the organization of the

championships.

New Executive for Cyprus -

Congratulations to the new executive board of the Cyprus Weightlifting Federation. The office bearers are as

follows:Chairman – Christos Christou, 1st Vice Chairman Mr Nicos Nicolaides, General secretary Ms. Denise Offermann

Loizou,Treasurer Mr Antonis Konstantinou

New address for Scotland

The new address of the Scottish Weightlifting Federation is as follows: Colin Hannah General Secretary, 3 F Monument

Court Stirling Stirling-Shire FK9 5PG Scotland

New General Secretary of Solomon Islands-

Congratulations to the Mr. Allen Castro, the newly appointed General Secretary of the Solomon Islands Weightlifting

Federation.

Congratulations to Sir John Dawanincura

The CWF is pleased to hear that Sir John Dawanincura, President of the Papua New Guinea Weightlifting Federation was

elected President of the National Olympic Committee of Papua New Guinea. We wish Sir John all the very best for the next

quadrennial period.

Yukio Peter married

One of the greatest weightlifters in the Commonwealth, Yukio Peter from Nauru, recently got married. Yukio won the 2010 Commonwealth Games gold medal in Delhi in the 77kg category. He holds all Commonwealth Senior and Junior records in the 77kg category. He won his first Commonwealth Championships in 2003 in Tonga and then went on to win the 2004 in Malta, 2005 in Melbourne, Australia, 2006 in Apia, Samoa, 2007 in Apia Samoa, 2008 in Limassol Cyprus, 2009 in Penang, Malaysia. The CWF wishes Yukio and his wife Felila all the very best.

Paul Coffa CWF GENERAL SECRETARY