15 April; During an online meeting, the IWF Executive Board today approved the retirement of Tamas Ajan, accepting his resignation as IWF President after 43 years of service to weightlifting.
"The IWF thanks Tamas Ajan for more than four decades of service to weightlifting, and most notably for his work in recent years to ensure an anti-doping programme which meets the standards of the IOC and WADA is in place," said IWF Acting President Ursula Papandrea. "We can now begin the work of determining a fresh path towards achieving the full potential of our sport."
As part of his retirement, Ajan has tendered his resignation from the position of IWF President with immediate effect. The IWF Executive Board notes that an independent investigation by Professor Richard McLaren is currently ongoing, examining allegations made by ARD and related issues.
"I offered the best of my life to our beloved sport," said Ajan. "When health circumstances related to the pandemic allow, holding elections would enable a new generation to start work as soon as possible on ensuring a bright future for the sport we love."
The IWF Executive Board meeting will continue as it considers both the Olympic Qualifying System and IWF governance matters.
"In these difficult and uncertain times, the IWF is determined to provide clarity over qualifying for the postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympics to weightlifters everywhere," continued Papandrea. "Our athletes are our first priority and they are currently facing significant challenges and disruption. We therefore want to ease the burden on them and ensure that we are providing them with further details about how we will deliver a safe and fair qualification process."
25 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is www.aroundtherings.com, for subscribers only
Recent Articles
Sinner-Alcaraz, the duel that came to succeed the three phenomenons
Beyond the final result, Roland Garros left the feeling that the Italian and the Spaniard will shape the great duel that came to help us through the duel for the end of the Federer-Nadal-Djokovic era.
Table tennis: Brazil’s Bruna Costa Alexandre will be Olympic and Paralympic in Paris 2024
She is the third in her sport and the seventh athlete to achieve it in the same edition; in Santiago 2023 she was the first athlete with disabilities to compete at the Pan American level and won a medal.
Rugby 7s: the best player of 2023 would only play the medal match in Paris
Argentinian Rodrigo Isgró received a five-game suspension for an indiscipline in the circuit’s decisive clash that would exclude him until the final or the bronze match; the Federation will seek to make the appeal successful.
Rhonex Kipruto, owner of the world record for the 10000 meters on the road, was suspended for six years
The Kenyan received the maximum sanction for irregularities in his biological passport and the Court considered that he was part of a system of “deliberate and sophisticated doping” to improve his performance. He will lose his record and the bronze medal at the Doha World Cup.
Katie Ledecky spoke about doping Chinese swimmers: “It’s difficult to go to Paris knowing that we’re going to compete with some of these athletes”
The American, a seven-time Olympic champion, referred to the case of the 23 positive controls before the Tokyo Games that were announced a few weeks ago and shook the swimming world. “I think our faith in some of the systems is at an all-time low,” he said.
