Nine days of intense competition in the Tirana Olympic Park “Feti Borova” have come to the end with the evolutions of the heaviest of all categories and outstanding performances obtained by Emily Campbell from Great Britain and the unbeatable Georgian super-heavyweight Lasha Talakhadze.
A competition that started with many emotional moments from the recognition of the EWF Distinctions, during the Ordinary Congress, to sports personalities who wrote chapters in the history of this beautiful sport at the awarding, during the Opening Ceremony, of the prizes for the best 2021 EWF Best female and male athletes and the EWF Fair Play Award. The competition followed in more than 15 countries on national television channels and watched by thousands of lovers and fans via live streaming worldwide, gave the show where the protagonists were, as always, the best weightlifters on the continent, but also athletes of great perspective who achieved personal success, all supported by passionate coaches.
The anniversary spirit spoke for itself!
In the end, a total of 285 athletes entered the competition – 144 female athletes from 37 countries and 141 male athletes from 34 countries – leading to a more than balanced nation ranking with Turkey, Ukraine, Great Britain, Norway, Denmark and Spain in the Women’s top 6, and Bulgaria, Armenia, Georgia, the Czech Republic, Poland and Turkey in the top 6 classification for Men.
Great success for the host country with the W 55 Kg Category weightlifter Veli Evagjelia declared the best athlete female of the competition, while the Italian Antonino Pizzolato, M 89 Kg Category continental champion and Senior World Record breaker in Total with 392 Kg and Clean and Jerk with 217 Kg, is the Best Male Weightlifter of the event. Great joy for the sensational Nino and the Italian team that had not set a world record since 1922.
Also worth mentioning is the talented junior Karlos Nasar from Bulgaria, M 89 Kg Category, for the four World Junior Records set in his evolution in Tirana – Snatch 171 Kg, Total 374 Kg, Clean and Jerk 211 Kg and once again Total with 382 Kg.
RESULTS BOOK can be found here
After presenting the competition’s trophies for the best of the best, the EWF President, Mr. Antonio Conflitti declared the 100th Edition of the European Weightlifting Championships closed in the Closing Ceremony in Durres, beautiful city on the Adriatic Sea, where delegations were accommodated.
“I am very pleased that we managed to keep this competition up to the standards imposed by the EWF. It is obvious that it is not easy to host such a large competition in these challenging times, but with the massive involvement of the Organizing committee, the EWF leadership, the EWF Technical Committee, ITOs and the colleagues from the EWF Executive Board, we have succeeded! Congratulations to all the participating athletes and teams for the beautiful results obtained. Weightlifting proved once again that they deserve their place in the Olympic program. Unity always speaks for itself”, said President Conflitti at the end of 100th Europeans.
EWF was also able to host three extremely important Anti-Doping and Fair Play seminars for all members of the continental weightlifting community.
EWF leadership addressed special thanks to the Albanian Weightlifting Federation, Albanian Olympic Committee, Organizing Committee, ITOs, volunteers and all those involved, wishing best luck to all the participating teams for the next EWF Events.
Albania will also host the European Junior and U23 Championships this year in October, but until then the important IWF Special Electoral Congress on June 25-26, in Tirana.
The next continental Event, the Youth and U15 Championships, are scheduled for August 10-18, in Raszyn POL, and the 2023 European Senior Championships will be held in Yerevan ARM. Exact dates to be announced.
EWF