IWF welcomes revised Olympic qualification system for weightlifting at Tokyo
May 06, 2021
Lausanne [Switzerland], May 6 : The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) has welcomed the publication of the revised Olympic qualification system, developed in agreement with the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
Adjustments had become necessary in order to reflect the circumstances of the pandemic.
"As Tokyo 2020 approaches, athletes deserve as much certainty as we can all provide for them. The IWF would like to thank the IOC for approving a revised Olympic Qualification System for weightlifting that will contribute to this kind of certainty," said Interim President Dr Michael Irani in an official release.
"The revised Olympic Qualification System also stays true to the principles that brought widespread praise: clean nations will still be rewarded with the greatest possible opportunities to qualify athletes. Qualifying lifters must also have competed regularly across a significant period of time, ensuring they are subject to appropriate in-competition and out-of-competition doping controls," he added.
Weightlifters must still have competed during two key periods, the first from November 1, 2018 to April 30, 2019 and the second from May 1, 2019 to October 31, 2019.
The number of events at which athletes must have competed, however, has been reduced from six to four, reflecting the limited opportunities to compete in the third period of qualifying, which started on November 1, 2019 and concludes on May 31, 2021. In addition, the mandatory participation in the third period has been excluded from the eligibility requirements.
In line with the above the calculation of the Absolute Ranking Points has been modified in the following way:
"At the end of the qualification period; an athlete's final Absolute Ranking Points; subject to participation in one (1) event in the same Olympic category will be drawn from four (4) results (ROBI points for Total results only):
a. two (2) results, best result from Period 1 and best result from Period 2 (as per Paragraph C. 2. c) ii) and; b. two (2) next best results from Period 1, Period 2, or Period 3 (as per Paragraph C. 2. c) ii)."
