Weightlifting: IWF meet over, awaits IOC decision

By Waylon Galvez

Samahang Weightlifting ng Pilipinas president Monico Puentevella is optimistic the International Weightlifting Federation will get a favorable response from the International Olympic Committee with whatever modifications were made for Tokyo Olympics aspirants.

“I’m hoping that it’s a positive response from the IOC,” said Puentevella when contacted by The Manila Bulletin.

“What the IWF decided has to be approved by the IOC, so whatever the IWF discussed, we still have to wait on the IOC decision. But I’m hoping for the best.”

The international body for weightlifting met recently in Lausanne, Switzerland where it made changes, according to to the IWF website, on the Tokyo Games qualification following the cancelation of various Olympic Qualifying Tournaments (OQTs) in different regions due to COVID-19.

The IWF didn’t disclose, however, what modifications were made, leaving it to the IOC to first approve the federation’s recommendation before making any announcement.

One of the major issues for the IWF is the required number of OQTs for Olympic hopefuls, which stands at six events, with only the top eight per division will advance.

Rio Olympics silver medalist Hidilyn Diaz, for instance, is currently at No. 5 in the 55kg women’s category with 3,717.0982 points behind three Chinese weightlifters in Jiang Huihua (4,667.8878), Liao Qiuyun (4,288.9622), Zhang Wangqiong (4,212.6639) and Li Yajun (4,099.0223).

Only one Chinese weightlifter will advance to the Olympics since only one athlete per country is eligible.

However, since Diaz has only joined five OQTs, she remains one short of the required number and may be facing disqualification unless the IWF modifies its rules, with the IOC’s approval.

Puentevella said this the situation is different following the cancelation of tournaments due to COVID-19, including the Asian Championship next month where Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan both begged off.

“It’s not the fault of the athletes. If they can tell us where and when, we’ll join. Although with the lockdown in almost all counties, I think that cannot be done since the IWF also mentioned that no more qualifiers until end of April,” he said.

Diaz, 28, was supposed to join the South American-Ibero American and Open Senior’s Championship in Cali, Colombia, but a travel ban on Asians and Europeans was imposed the government of Colombia.

READ MORE: Hidilyn Diaz awaits IWF decision

The said event, as well as next month’s Pan-American Championships in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, was postposed by the IWF due to the same COVID-19 health crisis.

Other local weightlifters needing to compete for their sixth OQT but whose tournaments were called off are Southeast Asian Games gold medalist Kristel Macrohon, Rio Olympic veteran Nestor Colonia, as well as Eileen Ando, John Ceniza and Mary Flor Diaz.

RELATED: Kuala Lumpur lockdown forces Hidilyn Diaz to leave training center

Source: Manila Bulletin