The last official EWF competition of this year ended successfully in Raszyn, Poland, with very good results and an important number of new records set, celebrated in an elegant Closing Ceremony, organized by the Polish Weightlifting Federation in the Warsaw Airport Hotel, on the 03 rd of November, 2024.
The European Junior and U23 Championships, held between October 26 and November 3, 2024, at the Sports Complex Centrum Sportu in Raszyn, a town located in the immediate vicinity of the capital Warsaw, gathered 414 athletes at the start, in both genders and age categories, which makes this extremely successful event register a new record of participants.
The best teams ranked in the first six places in Juniors were the following:
FEMALE:
UKR, POL, TUR, GBR, ARM, ESP
MALE:
TUR, GEO, ARM, UKR, POL, BUL
The best teams ranked in the first six places at U23 were the following:
FEMALE:
POL, TUR, UKR, GER, GBR, ARM
MALE:
ARM, GEO, UKR, POL, BUL, SWE
The best athletes in the Junior category were the following:
BEST FEMALE:
GRIGORYAN Aleksandra ARM – JU 55F – 593.60 Robi Points
BEST MALE:
MKRTCHYAN Narek ARM – JU 81M – 710.21 Robi Points
The best athletes in the U23 category were the following:
BEST FEMALE:
STURLUDOTTIR Eyglo Fanndal ISL – U23 71F – 625.15 Robi Points
BEST MALE:
GENC Yusuf Fehmi TUR – U23 67M – 825.63 Robi Points
The results were even more appreciated in the sense that, apart from the teams with strong tradition, special performances and podiums places were also recorded by countries with emerging teams in these age categories, which denotes a constant in the development of weightlifting on the European level.
The Closing Ceremony was presided over by the EWF President, Kt. Antonio Conflitti and EWF General Secretary, Dr. Milan Mihajlovic, accompanied by the President of the Host Federation, Mr. Waldemar Gospodarek and moderated by the official speaker of the competition, Ms. Monika Kalas Paterek.
After the singing the national anthem of Poland, the officials gave speeches, through which they emphasized the success of the competition, the high level of the athletes who entered the competition, the important role of the referees and, last but not least, the significant help of the volunteers and the team of loaders, who were downright phenomenal during the nine days of competition and the 47 competition sessions, which sometimes lasted until late at night.
President Gospodarek thanked his team and the EWF management for their trust: “I congratulate the participating teams for their excellent results and thank everyone for their participation and the EWF management for their trust. I thank my colleagues from the Polish Weightlifting Federation, the volunteers and everyone involved for very good organization and development. Poland has a tradition and wants to continue organizing international competitions at the best level.”
Congratulations and thanks were also addressed by the EWF officials: “Congratulations to all the athletes, coaches and Federations for their presence and outstanding results. Congratulations to the organizers, who once again lived up to expectations and ticked off yet another project concluded with success. Poland deserves to remain on the map of the organizing countries and we, at EWF, know that we can always rely on you”, declared EWF President Conflitti.
The General Secretary of the EWF added: “A special competition, organized at an even more special time: the 55th anniversary of the EWF, which was born right here in Warsaw. I am glad to have witnessed these anniversary events and this competition successful. I thank everyone for participating with respect for sports and fair play values and applause for the referees, who officiated in an exemplary manner at these championships.”
The Closing Ceremony ended with the official and traditional announcement of the EWF President: “I declare the 2024 European Junior and U23 Championships closed”, in the applause of all.
The European Weightlifting Federation is therefore concluding a new successful competitional year, which saw 1156 top athletes and talented young ones performing at the highest level, guided by coaches, technical teams and MFs’ staff, at the competition arenas in Sofia, Thessaloniki and Raszyn.
All this would not have been possible without the availability and professionalism of the organizers, the referees, the volunteers, the authorities and all those who contributed in small and large ways to the realization of the projects
A new year full of challenges is coming with a start that promises to be grand in Chisinau, Moldova, the first host of an EWF competition in 2025.
Between April 13 and 21, 2025, Arena Chisinau will host the most important continental competition – the European Senior Championships and the EWF Electoral Congress, on April 11, 2025.
