News
London 2012 Olympian Zoe Smith will travel to Australia later this month to compete for Team GB at the Australian Youth Olympic Festival (AYOF).
The 18-year-old Londoner was one of 120 athletes selected for Team GB covering 11 sports, and will lift on January 18 in the 63kg category.
The British Olympic Association (BOA) has announced today the 120 athletes officially selected to compete for Team GB at the Australian Youth Olympic Festival (AYOF) in Sydney from 16-20 January 2013.
“The London 2012 Games were an incredible experience and I loved every minute of it,” said Smith, who won a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi. “The Olympic environment is completely different from other competitions, so I am pleased to have the opportunity to compete in another large multi-sport event so soon after London 2012.
“It is always a proud moment to compete for your country and to do so in an Olympic competition is even more special. I am looking forward to sharing my experiences from London 2012 with my Team GB teammates in Sydney.”
The AYOF will see approximately 1,700 athletes aged 13-19 from 30 nations competing across 17 Olympic sports in many of the venues used to host the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. Team GB will compete in 11 Olympic sports: badminton, basketball, diving, golf, gymnastics, hockey, rowing, shooting, triathlon, weightlifting and wrestling.
Inspired by Team GB’s outstanding success at this summer’s London Olympic Games, this group of young athletes will be aiming to use the AYOF experience as a springboard in their development towards fulfilling their aspirations of representing Team GB at future Olympic Games.
Mark England, Team GB Chef de Mission said: “Following the inspirational achievements of Team GB’s athletes this summer at the London 2012 Games it is an exciting time to lead this group of exceptionally talented young athletes to the Australian Youth Olympic Festival.
“The AYOF will play an important role in introducing these athletes to an environment reminiscent of the Olympic Games and providing them with a taste of a multi-sport competition. They will also have the opportunity to develop their understanding of the Olympic ideals of excellence, friendship and respect.
“I’m confident the AYOF will prove to be an invaluable experience in progressing their international sporting careers as they aim to bridge the gap between youth and senior international representation. The statistics show what a crucial springboard the AYOF has been for many of our successful London 2012 Olympians.”
Happy New Year to all!
Please CLICK HERE to download the poster for the British Masters training weekend which is to be held at the University of Bath. If you are interested and would like to reserve a place or if you require any further details such as the address to send cheques, accommodation enquiries, coaching and so forth, please do not hesitate to contact me here: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
There will be concessions for those only attending the 1 or 2 sessions on Saturday.
Regards,
Sandra Smith
The aim of the ParalympicsGB SportsFests are to give people of all ages with a disability the opportunity to have a go at different sports and encourage them to go on and participate in that sport through clubs, anyone with real talent and Potential is fast tracked into sports talent confirmation programmes.
Over the course of the two days a huge number of people either had a go or asked about powerlifting, what is clear that while some people may not have necessarily wanted to take up powerlifting as a competitive sport they were very keen to find ou
t where they could train with weights, and get advice on resistance training specific to their disability.
Thanks to Chris Rattenbury, Roxan Luckock, Paul Efayena, Ali Jawad, Ben Richens, Michelle Joiner and Rik Partridge for helping out with the sessions, doing demos, explaining the sport and encouraging everyone to 'have a go'.
ParalympicsGB are looking to run four more sportsfests throughout the UK next year, which will give us another opportunity to promote the IPC Powerlifting and encourage participation while also looking for anyone with the potential to go on and compete at International level.
More information on ParalympicsGB SportsFest
The British Weight Lifting website has now been updated and holds all relevant Safeguarding documents. The documents are there to help and guide you should have to deal with a disclosure of abuse and it informs you of the correct procedures that have to be followed when dealing with such an issue.
The Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 received Royal Assent on 1 May 2012. It contains all of the new safeguarding and vetting requirements that will affect individuals in sport and recreation organisations who have contact with children and adults at risk.
The legislation is now fixed and the new legal requirements have been coming into force at various times since 10 September 2012 and onwards Below are outlined the changes that have taken place so far this year and there are further changes to take place in the Spring of next year and into 2014.
The 10th September changes were:
- the introduction of new definition of Regulated Activity,
- the Repeal of Controlled Activity,
- the Repeal of registration and monitoring requirements,
- the Repeal of additional information ,
- the introduction of 16 yrs old as the minimum age at which someone can apply for a CRB check
- More rigorous 'relevancy' test for when police release information held locally on an enhanced CRB check
December 1st change was the merger of Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) and Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) to create the new Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).
From March 2013 the forms to be completed for a DBS will change, as have the documents that you can use for a check so please read the new documentation on the website as it outlines the new identity checking process that is in place.
If you have any questions regarding these changes and what they mean for you please do not hesitate to contact me directly on :
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Tel: 0117 3305301
Mobile : 07872 602637
IT IS full speed ahead for British Weight Lifting’s plans for the next four years, after both UK Sport and Sport England agreed to increased levels of funding for 2013-17.
UK Sport today announced an overall increase in funding for the governing body of 7.5 per cent, with their total figure for Olympic weightlifting and Paralympic powerlifting being £2,639,433.
And on Monday Sport England gave a major boost to weightlifting at grassroots level when they agreed to give British Weight Lifting £1 million for the same period of time.
Fiona Lothian, Performance Manager for British Weight Lifting, said: “We are delighted that, having gone through the London 2012 funding cycle with weightlifting as a basic funded sport, the progression and improvements made by our athletes and coaches has been recognised by UK Sport.
“The award of core funding plus the addition of a number of athlete personal awards for the Rio cycle is a great boost and shows we are now on the right track. Likewise in Paralympic powerlifting we have five athletes who have been acknowledged as having the potential to medal in Rio 2016.
“There is also support for talent identification and coach development across both weightlifting and Paralympic powerlifting which will enable British Weight Lifting to continue to progress towards its performance targets in 2016 and beyond.”
UK Sport funds elite performance across both Olympic and Paralympic Sports. They have given weightlifting £1,798,319 for the Rio Olympic cycle, while Paralympic powerlifting has been awarded £841,114.
Sport England’s £1 million award includes £200,000 for talent programmes, while the remaining £800,000 is to be spent on boosting participation.
British weightlifters performed well at the European Junior and Under-23 Championships in Israel earlier this month, with several British records falling.
Welshman Darius Jokarzadeh (pictured) placed fourth in the 105kg+ category, and broke six British records in his performance in the championship at Eilat.
The 19-year-old lifted 171kg in the snatch and 190kg in the clean and jerk, totalling 361kg. That performance makes him the British record holder at both Under-23 and Under-20 for both lifts as well as the total.
And also breaking records was Bristol 18-year-old Sonny Webster, who is the new British Under-20 and Under-18 record holder in the clean and jerk.
Lifting in the 94kg category Sonny lifted 131kg in the snatch, 168kg in the clean and jerk, for a total of 299kg – just 1kg away from another British Under-20 record.
Also in action in Eilat was Scotsman Craig Carfray from Kilmarnock, who competed in the junior 69kg category. He snatched 107kg, lifted 137kg in the clean and jerk, for a total of 244kg and ninth place.
Chris Freebury from Derby competed in the Under-23 69kg class, and lifted 113kg and 131kg, totalling 244kg for tenth place.
Manchester’s Josh Farghaly also competed in the junior 94kg, but unfortunately couldn’t register a good snatch and didn’t record a total.
Full results, photgraphs and video clips from the European Championships are available here
SOME talented weightlifters both young and old were competing in the Northern Open Championship in West Yorkshire last month – and there were some top performances throughout the event at Mytholmroyd near Halifax.
Promising youngster Rebekah Tiler (pictured above), a 13-year-old member of the Mytholmroyd club, broke the British Under-15 clean and jerk record with a lift of 96kg in the 63kg class.
That gave her a total of 164kg and victory by 14kg over her nearest rival, 30-year-old Samantha Briggs (Train Manchester).
Other highlights included Team Manchester 19-year-old Christos Michaelas (pictured above), the British Under-20 record holder who won the 62kg class with lifts of 100kg and 125kg for a 225kg total.
Both David Oakes (Team Manchester) and junior Omarie Mears (Cardinal Pole) totalled 210kg in the 69kg class, while Train Manchester’s Jonathan Bullough won the 77kg class with a 229kg total.
Best in the 85kg category was 26-year-old Andy Hill (unattached), who lifted 115kg and 140kg for a 255kg total and victory by 20kg over Chris Morgan (Leeds).
Team Manchester were celebrating again in the 95kg class, with junior Jake Helliwell lifting 110kg and 146kg for a 256kg total and victory by just 1kg over senior rival Ed Hopper from Crossfit Manchester.
Danny Maloney (Leeds) won the 105kg class with a total of 280kg.
In the other women’s categories, Anastasia Michaelas (Team Manchester) won the 48kg class, Shireen Amir (Gateshead) the 53kg, Michele Davies (Crossfit Manchester) the 58kg, Justine Davies-Hirst (Bradford) the 69kg and Clare Cave (Team Manchester) the 75kg+ category.
Full results from the Northern Open are available here
SOME of the best weightlifting talent from the region was in action at the London and South East Open Championships earlier this month, with an impressive 48 competitors taking part in the event at Crystal Palace in London.
At the top end there were lifters in action who have competed for Great Britain, while many were experiencing a competition for the first time in their young weightlifting careers.
Among the lifters were some who are current holders of British records: Crystal Palace’s Jo Calvino, who holds the 53kg British clean and jerk and total records, won the London Open with a snatch of 63kg, a clean and jerk of 89kg and a total of 152kg.
And her team-mate from Crystal Palace Halil Zorba, who holds the British clean and jerk record at 77kg, won that category comfortably with snatch of 117kg, clean and jerk of 160kg and a total of 277kg.
St Mary’s Adam Matiussi came a worthy second in that category, beating Zorba in the snatch with 120kg. But with a snatch of 149kg, Matiussi totalled 266kg for second place.
And GB’s Emily Godley completed a good run of wins for Crystal Palace with victory in the 69kg class, snatching 82kg, lifting 101kg in the clean and jerk and totalling 183kg.
In other categories, Shila Panjavi (Stars of the Future) won the 58kg class with a snatch of 58kg and a clean and jerk of 75kg for a total of 133kg.
Ireland’s Sinead Ryan won the 63kg class with 60kg snatch, 80kg clean and jerk and a total of 140kg.
Rachel Gregory (unattached) won the 75kg class with a total of 103kg, while Mercy Brown (Cardinal Pole, pictured) lifted 153kg in the 75kg+ category.
In the 69kg class, Mehmed Fikretov lifted an impressive 273kg, with a snatch of 118kg and clean and jerk of 155kg.
Cathyl Byrd (unattached) won the 85kg class with a 275kg total, while Jake Davies (Wales) won the 94kg class with 265kg. And Brunel’s Damon Samadi won the 105kg class with 270kg.
Full results from the London and South East Open are available here
THE up and coming new weightlifting club, Stars for the Future, recently held its fourth competition – the West London Open at Lampton School in Hounslow - and they enjoyed their best turnout with 36 competitors from 12 schools and universities taking part.
With many novice lifters taking part the competition was done in stages. Firstly the competitors were retaught the techniques, then on to the next room where the coaches prepared them to compete with some trial weights.
Finally they went on to the competition platform, where they displayed a lot of confidence and skill in front of the audience to show how much they have learned.
“The secret to this success was from the help of Barnhill, the generosity of Lampton for letting us use their hall and from St Marys for referring the competition,” said organiser and coach Kazem Panjavi.
Barnhill School had 13 lifters competing, while Feltham High had five and Brentford Girls School had four.
Barnhill’s Kalvin Limbu was the best Under-13 boy with a snatch of 26kg and a clean and jerk of 34kf, while best under-13 girl was Faye Brookar from Feltham High, who snatched 25kg and lifted 29kg in the clean and jerk.
In the under-15 competition, the best boy was Kian Panjavi (Brentside School) with 58kg and 69kg, while top girl in that age group was Marwa Silman (Brentford Girls) with 25kg and 34kg.
Poi Fakcha (Feltham High) was best female under-17 with 53kg and 65kg, while Louis Hampton-Jones (Barnhill School) was best boy in that age group with 71kg and 86kg.
And in the Under-23 category, Namatullah Ahmadi (Barnhill School) snatched 80kg and 101kg in the clean and jerk to top that age group, while best Under-23 female was Shila Panjavi (Kingston Uni) with 59kg and 75kg.
For full results from the Stars For The Future competition, click here
Weightlifting coach David Kaye has been honoured by the Torch Trophy Trust for his work in helping promote the sport during his life.
Based in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, Mr Kaye received his award – and £1,000 towards further improving his coaching skills – at an awards ceremony in London recently where he met His Royal Highness the Duke of Kent and Sir Bobby Charlton CBE (pictured).
He caught the weightlifting bug whilst still at school – joining the Gifford Weightlifting Club run by the late Hymie Binder.
After a period in the army in 1969, David founded the Wood Green Weightlifting Club where he had the dual role of keeping people fit as gym instructor and serving as a coach and regional/national officer for weightlifting.
Over his 40 years of involvement in weightlifting, David, has become a level four coach and British weightlifting course tutor. He has developed many national champions in both weightlifting and Paralympic powerlifting with notable pupils being Commonwealth gold medallist Giles Greenwood and powerlifter Ali Jawad.
In the 1990s David became the national disability officer for the British Amateur Weight Lifters’ Association which was the precursor for the British Disabled Lifting Association and was instrumental in uniting all the separate organisations.
His award citation read: “David has been a magnificent servant to British weightlifting and his work in developing youngsters right the way through to elite athletes, both within the London area and nationally has been greatly appreciated.”
