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Russia to host first Olympic federation world event since Ukraine invasion
Confirmed
In Short: The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) has awarded Moscow the 2030 World Weightlifting Championships, marking the first time an Olympic federation has chosen to stage a global event in Russia since its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) announced on Sunday that Moscow will host the 2030 World Weightlifting Championships, a decision that marks a significant step in Russia's return to international sports following restrictions imposed after its war against Ukraine.
Moscow has not hosted the World Weightlifting Championships since 1983. The Russian Weightlifting Federation expressed gratitude to the IWF for their trust, noting that Russia has the necessary experience and infrastructure to host major competitions.
The IWF also announced that Ahmedabad, India, will host the 2029 senior event. The federation president, Aleksandr Vinokurov, thanked the IWF for awarding Moscow the event, emphasizing the country's readiness to stage top-level competitions.
The decision comes amid a gradual easing of restrictions on Russian athletes by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). On July 7, the IOC opened a pathway for Russian athletes to compete in qualifying events for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
The IWF's announcement follows an emergency board meeting in Abuja, where members deliberated on the format and organization of the proposed league. The championships in Moscow will serve as a qualifying event for the 2032 Olympic Games in Brisbane, Australia.
The IWF General Secretary, Jose Quinones, stated that all bids received were excellent and expressed confidence in the success of the championships in both India and Russia.
No world championships in an Olympic sport, summer or winter, have taken place in Russia since the start of the war against Ukraine. The IWF's decision reflects a broader trend among international sports federations to gradually reintroduce Russian and Belarusian athletes under neutral status.
The Russian Weightlifting Federation highlighted Moscow's track record of hosting major international sporting events and its modern infrastructure, emphasizing the city's capability to stage competitions of the highest level.
What this adds
The IWF's decision to award Moscow the 2030 World Weightlifting Championships marks a significant shift in the international sports community's approach to Russia's participation in global events.
What's confirmed
- The Russian Weightlifting Federation said: "[We are] the first Olympic sports federation to succeed in bringing a top-level official competition back to the country in many years." Federation president Aleksandr Vinokurov thanked the IWF in a post on Telegram "for their trust", with the championships also serving as a qualifying event for the 2032 Olympic Games in Brisbane, Australia.
- "Moscow has repeatedly staged major international sporting events and has modern infrastructure."
- On July 7, the IOC opened a pathway for Russian athletes to compete in qualifying events for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
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- Russian athletes have competed under various arrangements, most recently as Individual Neutral Athletes, after the World Anti-Doping Agency said a state-sponsored doping program operated at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics and after Russia launched its assault on Ukraine in 2022.
- According to those rules, an individual is presumed eligible unless the ISU determines they are in active military/security service for Russia or Belarus, have taken part in military operations against Ukraine or have "publicly supported that war".
- Valieva was 15 when she helped Russia win team gold in Beijing, becoming the first female skater to land a quadruple jump during the Olympics.
- The 20-year-old returned to the ice in January after serving a four-year doping ban but remained ineligible for this year's Milan-Cortina Olympics.
- The ISU initially granted Valieva neutral status for the 2026-27 season but that has now been refused, alongside Russian men's skater Mark Kondratiuk, a team-mate of Valieva's at the 2022 Winter Olympics.
- Russian athletes have been barred from competing under their national flag since the country's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, although International Skating Union rules allow for Russians to compete as neutral athletes.
- Russian and Belarusian athletes have been excluded from international competitions since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022 Russian and Belarusian athletes have been excluded from international competitions since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022 Russian athletes have appealed to international sporting and human rights bodies to help end World Athletics ' ban on Russian competitors, arguing that more than four years of exclusion has deprived a generation of athletes of their careers.
- In an open letter dated 10 September, seen by Reuters and addressed to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Athletes' Commission, the IOC Advisory Committee on Human Rights and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the athletes said the continued ban was having a devastating impact.
- "This isn't about politics or passports. It's about the integrity of competition," Coe told reporters at the Ultimate Championship in Budapest.
- "A legal or institutional process can continue for years. An athlete's career cannot," they wrote.
- While World Athletics have been contacted for comment, federation president Sebastian Coe reiterated earlier on Sunday that the governing body's position had not changed ahead of the arbitration proceedings.