Ashgabat hosts World Weightlifting Championships

ArmInfo.The Opening Ceremony of the World Weightlifting Championships took place in Ashgabat, the press service of the Embassy of Turkmenistan in Armenia informs.

The most recent title of Ashgabat is the City of Health, Inspiration  and Friendship because the city is becoming a sports hub. Year by  year the number and level of international sporting events hosted by  Ashgabat is increasing. These days Ashgabat hosts the World  Weightlifting Championship. The 2018 IWF World Championships is held  from November 1- 10 at the excellent sports facilities of the  top-class Ashgabat Olympic Complex.

These facilities have already proved themselves as full-scale venues  to organize top-tier sports events, by successfully hosting  international sporting events, such as 2017 Asian Indoor and Martial  Arts Games.  In order to make sure that the WWC is held at the  highest level, the Organizing Committee has put great efforts during  the last several months. According to the current schedule, more than  1000 athletes and coaches from over 100 countries, as well as,  hundreds of officials from the International Weightlifting  Federation, other sports organizations and mass media have joined the  championship event.  Currently, Sport Hotel and athlete hotels of  Olympic Complex are planned for their comfortable accommodation. At  the same time, Sport Hotel hosted the Congress of the International  Weightlifting Federation and the conferences and other meetings of  the relevant IWF committees.

Events take place at the Martial Arts Arena, which is one of the  facilities of the Olympic Complex with rich sporting history. All  favorable conditions are established there for athletes, technical  officials, mass media and spectators, which is the largest customer  group of the event. Overlay and facilities is set up for more than  1700 spectators, athletes and accredited sports officials. There are  media offices, VIP, lounges, meeting rooms, medical offices,  anti-doping center, warm-up zone, lodges and other amenities of high  quality.

The Organizing Committee of World Weightlifting Championship will  make every effort to ensure the world-class organization of the  event.

The World Weightlifting Championships 2018 started in Ashgabat. The  weightlifters competed in three weight categories.The competitions  were continued in Groups B, C and D.  

In the competition of the male weightlifters, everyone's attention  was focused on the performances in 55 kg weight category. 16-year-old  Italian weightlifter Massidda Sergio has set the juniors' new world  record. He managed to lift 236 kg in total and was the first  weightlifter to set a new world record at the Ashgabat World  Weightlifting Championships 2018.

The President of Turkmenistan sent a congratulatory letter to the  participants of the World Weightlifting Championships in Ashgabat.  The letter says:  "Athletes are Peace Ambassadors. With your skill  and will, you must promote the high goals of the Olympics in a fair  competition at the World Weightlifting Championships". The letter  also states: "Right before the celebration of our Independence  holiday, a massive cycling race and competitive race, as well as the  international rally "Amul-Khazar" were held along the Great Silk  Road. Today the World Weightlifting Championships demonstrate to the  world the capability of our Independent, permanently Neutral country  of organizing large-scale sporting events".  All these statements are  the evidence of the high reputation of Turkmenistan as a sporting  nation.

November 1, 2018. The Opening Ceremony of the World Weightlifting  Championships took place in Ashgabat. An introduction of the new  weight categories by the International Weightlifting Federation  became the reason of the increased interest in competitions.

Women competitions began in the weight category of up to 55 kg. In  the afternoon, the male athletes will compete in the body weight  categories from 55 kg to 61 kg.

The Opening Ceremony of the World Weightlifting Championships 2018  was held in the Main Indoor Arena of the Olympic Village.

The World Championships competitions were broadcasted on  <Turkmenistan Sport> Channel, as well as many other international TV  channels.

The IWF competitions in Ashgabat were broadcasted on the following  channels: <CCTV> (China), <BBC> (UK), <ESPN> (America), <MATCH TV>  (Russia), <L'Equipe> (France), <ARD> (Germany), <ZDF>, as well as on  many other state-owned international TV channels. 

Moreover, there was an opportunity to watch the World Weightlifting  Championships competitions on <Olympus> Channel.