IWF President attends Italian Championships in Rome

After the conclusion of a very successful IWF Grand Prix in Doha (QAT), the IWF President Mohammed Jalood was this weekend in Rome (ITA) on the occasion of the Italian Weightlifting Championships, where he could witness excellent performances from the best lifters in the country. Invited by the IWF Secretary General and President of the Italian Weightlifting Federation Antonio Urso, Mr Jalood had also the opportunity to meet the IOC Member and President of the Italian National Olympic Committee, Mr Giovanni Malagò.

Speaking to the local media, the IWF President expressed his satisfaction for being in Rome: “It’s the first time I am attending these excellent championships, and I am happy to see the enormous progress of Italian weightlifting over the years. The best proof of that fantastic evolution are the three Olympic medals obtained at the Tokyo Games. I congratulate Dr Urso and the entire Italian weightlifting community for those achievements”.

Mohammed Jalood (IWF President), Giovanni Malagò (IOC Member and President of the Italian NOC), and Antonio Urso (IWF Secretary General and President of the Italian WL Federation)

On a more global note, Mr Jalood highlighted the universality of the sport and the diversity of athletes getting into the top positions at the world level. “Before, medals were given to a handful of countries; now, all continents are represented on the podium of our events. This shows the immense work our National Federations are doing to elevate the quality of the sport in their respective countries,” underlined the IWF President. 

Mr Jalood continued by saying: “And this density of results is achieved with fewer and fewer cases of doping worldwide. The culture is changing and we are happy to see that our major events are not affected by those who still try to cheat – at the recent IWF World Championships in September, we didn’t have any positive cases! That’s very encouraging!”

Antonio Urso was also happy to have the IWF leader at the Italian Championships. “President Jalood honoured us with his presence in Rome and we are of course very grateful for having him at our national showcase. He was impressed with the level of the competition and expressed his conviction that Italian lifters will continue shining at the highest level. It was an important motivation for our community to have the IWF President here, as it shows his personal involvement and interest for our athletes, coaches, and officials,” stated Mr Urso. 

IWF Communications