European Weightlifting Federation’s President, Kt. Antonio Conflitti met, on Saturday, the 28 th of December, 2024, in Tbilisi, the Minister of Sports of Georgia, Shalva Gogoladze, for a working meeting in which they took part also Alexandru Padure, EWF Executive Board Member, the Vice President of the International Weightlifting Federation, Attila Adamfi, the President of the Georgian Weightlifting Federation and Olympic champion, Kakhi Kakhiashvili and General Secretary, Rusudan Muradashvili.
At the meeting, the parties discussed the 2026 European Championships and the organizational measures and issues of the most important continental competition to be held for the second time in Batumi, after the resounding success of the 2019 edition.
The 2026 Senior European Championships were allocated by the EWF Executive Board, in October 2024, during its meeting in Warsaw. Georgia’s bid was presented by the President Kakhiashvili, with the presence of the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Georgia to the Republic of Poland, Diana Zhgenti. Georgia’s bid was considered very attractive to the Board Members. The other two candidates were Poland and Albania.
The discussions in Tbilisi also touched on deepening cooperation with European and International Federations, promoting and continuing the development of weightlifting in Georgia, where our sport is more than appreciated and respected due to the outstanding and historic performances recorded by weightlifters such as Lasha Talakhadze, Kakhi Kahiashvili or Giorgi Asanidze. At the meeting, Minister Gogoladze noted that Georgia is ready to host the 2026 European Championships at a highest level and this was very welcome by the EWF delegates. In addition, the head of sports in Georgia anticipated his country’s intention to host a new edition of the World Championships, the last IWF competition hosted by Georgia being in 2016.
Last edition of the European Championships in Batumi 2019, received the highest rating from the European Weightlifting Federation and was even called the championship of the future. During the 2026 competition, hosts are expecting more than a thousand guests that will visit the Adjara region – both sports and international media representatives and fans. The continental championships will be broadcasted live in 160 countries.
EWF President comments at the end of the fruitful meeting: “I am very happy about this meeting and the unconditional support that weightlifting in Georgia enjoys from the authorities and especially from the Minister of Sports Gogoladze. I am convinced that things could not be otherwise, considering the outstanding results of the local weightlifters and, of course, taking into account the involvement of the President and the Olympic champion Kakhi Kakhiashvili. I am glad that today I also received the letter of guarantee to facilitate access for AIN athletes with passports from Belarus and the Russian Federation, a condition imposed by the EWF Executive Board, and from now on I can say that EWF will provide all possible support to the Georgian Federation for a successful organization.”
On December 28, 2024, the second edition of the Kakhi’s Cup International Tournament took also place in Tbilisi, at the Hualing Hotel, which brought together 18 athletes from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey and Uzbekistan. The best athlete of the competition, declared based on the Sinclair calculation system, was declared Isa Rustamov AZE, with 455,914 points.
