News

[strapping]

Dmitry Klokov being suspended for four years because he's not technically retired is going to have zero effect on his celebrity seminar circuit. CrossFit gyms will be happy to have him.

Curious if any WL gyms would drop his seminars (if planned) for fear of WADA's association rules with persona non grata. Various people already flirt with that stuff already but it's usually not followed up, except for in the case of Sonny Webster.

https://iwf.sport/2023/05/20/iwf-execut ... y-20-2023/
...and that's the end for Russia & Paris 2024.

A bit (not entirely) unexpected to me, I thought that it wouldn't happen given the Belarusian Olympic Committee is headed (or figureheaded, idk BLR politics) by Lukashenko Jr.

Belarusian athletes seem to really be blushing, maybe because they're being allowed into the Olympics and getting really strong /s

[erpel]

Entries for Cuba Grand Prix:

https://mf.iwf.sport/entry_list_cub/

PRK!

[Hawkpeter]

No Rim Jong Sim - oh well. Looks like they're targeting the 3 lighter classes.

Also do we need to discuss the possibility of Eko Irawan becoming a 5 time Olympic medalist?

[erpel]

I assume the PRK coaches consider her too old. Not that she is, de facto. But I can see that argument (31@Paris).

Edit: also lol at that W64 entry total #doubt

[strapping]

I assume the PRK coaches consider her too old. Not that she is, de facto. But I can see that argument (31@Paris).

same wrt om yun chol i wanna see a fat dwarf snatch 110 bc his hands dont fit around the bar any more, then clean and jerk 180

Edit: also lol at that W64 entry total #doubt

Polina GURYEVA TKM 260? Maybe post-pregnancy hormonal changes (stanozolol) made her strong.

Women
Speaking of W64, it's (selfishly) nice to see RIM Un Sim again, I really enjoy her rhythm in the snatch. Curious what category she would plan to go for, one would presume W71.

W81 please lemme see some lifting not just weigh-ins (one would assume that the Ecuadorians will at least battle)

WSuper will hopefully be entertaining w/o LI Wenwen, press X to doubt STOWERS Feagaiga SAM doing 285

The real interesting thing at the top level is what PRK does not for its own sake but how China will respond.

Men
M61
SAPUTRA Ricko vs IRAWAN Eko Yuli for INA qualification slot: I expect Irawan to win, but to be pushed by Saputra.

M96
Boady 400 press x to doubt lmao

M102
Surely anyone below 390 goes for a lift in such a tight class? Really hope we don't get a repeat of Asians.


M89
Hopefully PIZZOLATO Antonino ITA lifts, I think him + anyone below 380 should have a go.
BRUCE Kyle AUS appears the only lifter from Oceania who is eligible for qualification at M89, they are otherwise totally absent at M81/M89/M96 both in Cuba and at 2022 Worlds.

M73
Lots of people vying for qualification, including JUNIANSYAH Rizki INA, PAK Jong Ju PRK, MOSQUERA Luis COL, ZANNI Mirko ITA, CHURKIN Alexey KAZ, amongst others.

BEN HNIA Karem TUN 345 doubt.

[strapping]

More non-news

https://iwf.sport/2023/05/24/iwf-press- ... rand-prix/

IWF Press Release on PRK in Cuba: Nothing that we don't already know.
The IWF is legally powerless to stop PRK from competing and (unspoken but implied) the IOC wants them in.
This nonsense could have been avoided if the qualifying proposal hadn't been meddled with. Specifically, regarding the point that athletes must have been available for testing for the entire qualifying period (1st August 2022 - 28 April 2024).


https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles ... atastrophe
Personnel from various Western nations (AUS, CAN, USA) speaking their rightful outrage over the situation.

Paul Coffa: "If this is not stopped, I will consider taking a case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport about the unfairness of it".

I'm jaded and I think if this were taken to CAS, they would throw it out either on basis of current legality or (really) on the basis of CAS being an IOC puppet. Weightlifting gets fucked both ways and I doubt the IOC cares.

That said, if the ITA doesn't get whatever it deems/states to be appropriate access to PRK or if they get tested and piss hot, they'll not be eligible anyway. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

[erpel]

https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles ... atastrophe

[strapping]

https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles ... atastrophe

Your young boomer (millennial) meme forgot some of the other countries that the USA or the West use as proxy states.

I think the outrage is justified, even if from some it is quite hypocritical. There are no goodies in international sport or geopolitics, only baddies (in the now archaic sense of the word) whose goals align with your own. I'd much sit down for dinner with a homeless person than an executive board member of the IOC/IWF/WADA/ITA.

[erpel]

https://www.sport-express.ru/others/rev ... e-2091380/

Not exclusively WL, but there will be a Friendship Games in Moscow for 2024.

[erpel]

"After Paris we hope to have a new way of organising a championship," Urso said. There will be different weight categories and possibly not as many as the current 10 for each gender.

https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles ... es-reforms