The first Balkan Junior Championships, will be held from June 10 to June 16, 2025 in Albania and the International Weightlifting Federation and European Weightlifting Federation are ready to support that event.
Elez Gjoza, President of Balkan Weightlifting Federation and the Albanian Weightlifting Federation, said, “This event will be officially recognized as an IWF event, already included in the IWF Calendar, and we will ensure proper athlete registration and adherence to all required procedures.”
Furthermore, the competition has historical significance because according to the decision ratified at the IWF Congress in Manama in December 2024, it should be the first IWF event incorporating the newly established body weight categories. It is important to note that new record standards, i.e., new world and european records that can be broken, will be implemented when the new body weight categories go officially into force on June 1, 2025.
On October 21, 2024, the Balkan Weightlifting Federation was founded in Golem, Albania. This organization is committed to promoting weightlifting at the regional level and integrates the efforts of eleven National Federations from the Balkan region. The Balkan Weightlifting Federation’s headquarters are in Tirana.
The championship in Durres will center on junior athletes, but options for competition in other age categories are already being examined. Over the past several years, Albania has been actively involved in hosting international events. The European Junior & U23 Championships have been officially announced to take place in Tirana in September of this year.
EWF President and General Secretary Antonio Conflitti and Milan Mihajlovic expressed their complete support for such regional initiatives, as well as the inaugural Balkan Junior Championships, stated that EWF is grateful for President Elez Gjoza and his team’s strong initiative, which was key in establishing the first Balkan Junior Championships. The European Weightlifting Federation will actively contribute to this event.