The European Weightlifting Federation, represented by the President Antonio Conflitti and Executive Board Member Alexandru Padure, participated in the work sessions of the 53rd General Assembly of the European Olympic Committees, held in Bucharest, on July 6 and 7, 2024.
It is for the first time that the EWF has officially attended an EOC General Assembly and this only confirms the openness of the association of European Olympic Committees to the efforts and actions undertaken at the level of our federation to be part of the program of summer competitions held under the auspices of the European Olympic rings: The European Games and the European Youth Olympic Festival.
“I am very happy about the opportunity that our federation benefits from by being present at this prestigious meeting, taking into account the Olympic burden that characterizes it just 50 days before the supreme competition in Paris 2024 and taking into account the fact that we were also able to meet with the Organizing Committees of the continental Olympic competitions”, declared Conflitti.
The 53 rd European Olympic Committees (EOC) General Assembly, preceded by the Executive Committee meeting was opened by President Spyros Capralos at the beginning of a two-days session filled with reports and discussions on key topics in Bucharest.
“This year is a special one for European Sport, with our European Games success in Poland, a recent memory, and many more special ones to be created in Paris at the Olympic Games. It will be the first Olympic Games at which national flags and the Olympic flag will be joined in all the venues by the European flag. This will send a powerful message about the unity of our continent”, the EOC President said.
Chaired by President Spyros Capralos one day before, the Executive Committee’s agenda was packed with important updates and reports from the EOC&’s leadership, including Secretary General Raffaele Pagnozzi, Treasurer Peter Mennel and newly appointed CEO Dr Jan Lehmann. A highlight of the meeting was an update on Istanbul’s bid to host the 2027 European Games. Executive Committee members reviewed the latest developments, including the proposed sports program, and discussed the city’s robust preparations and plans to host the fourth edition of Europe’s premier multi-sport event. The Executive Committee also received a comprehensive update on the ongoing preparations for the upcoming European Youth Olympic Festivals (EYOF). The reports included a thorough review of the logistical plans, sports facilities and organizational measures implemented in the future host cities.
Hosted at the stunning Palace of Parliament, the 53rd EOC GA enjoyed the presence of International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach that joined EOC Executive Committee members and representatives from European NOCs and other European sporting organizations in the Romanian capital. For the European Weightlifting Federation, the priorities arose on the occasion of the presence at working sessions have been to enrich the network with the leadership and representatives of the EOC, with representatives of the National Olympic Committees in Europe, as well as identifying all the means to promote weightlifting at the level of the European Olympic family in order to include our sport in the continental Olympic competitions.
Several meetings were held at the EOC level, including with EOC Sports Director Peter Brull, with whom preliminary details were discussed for the confirmation of weightlifting in the final list of sports that will be present at the European Games in Istanbul 2027. Conflitti showed his enthusiasm for the meetings the EWF had in Bucharest: “We showed the EOC representatives all the desire, availability and openness for the final confirmation of our sport at the European Games and at the next editions of the EYOF and they were welcomed by the EOC.”
The EWF representatives also had the privilege to meet and exchange some thoughts with the IOC President Thomas Bach, IOC Members, other leaders of the European NOCs and Olympic Family and WADA Europe representative.
Among the most important discussions outside of the current EOC agenda, during the final session of the General Assembly, there were definitely those related to Artificial Intelligence and the positive and negative influence it could have on the world of sports. Apart from the official agenda of the Session, in the Romanian capital the presentation of the Janez Kocijančič EOC Award for the best male and female athlete of the European Games Krakow-Małopolska 2023 took place and were also announced the winner of the winter edition of the Piotr Nurowski Award, given to an athlete aged between 14 and 18 who has excelled in his or her sport and embodies the Olympic values.
The President of the EWF concluded at the end of the two days that there are all the prerequisites for weightlifting to be present in the program of the European Games in 2027 and of the future EYOF editions:
“I am confident that the discussions held in Bucharest have openness to us, from now on, all the way to have weightlifting competitions at the European Games in 2027 and at the future EYOF editions, starting with the one in 2027. I congratulated the organizers from the EWF side and on this occasion, we also started the principle discussions for our presence in Lignano Sabbiadoro EYOF 2027. Regarding the European Games of the same year, things seem much more defined, with weightlifting being mentioned in the preliminary program of the competition. Türkiye has a great tradition in weightlifting and I think this will help us for the final confirmation. Congratulations to the EWF EB for his commitment in both directions.”
Photos by EOC