The International Testing Agency (ITA) released its “Paris 2024 Pre-Games Report” (link here) and weightlifting appears as one of the very few sports to have tested all its participating athletes in the period of six months before the Olympics! The IWF had a quota of 120 lifters in the French capital (two more athletes, representing the Olympic Refugee Team, were also part of the competition) and ALL of them were controlled in the lead-up to the Olympic celebration in Paris.
“These numbers and unprecedented level of testing demonstrate our full determination in the fight against doping in our Sport. It also certifies that we had a fair and clean competition in Paris. The IWF, together with the ITA, is taking this matter very seriously and we are happy to see that this strategy is proving successful. I take the opportunity to thank our National Federations for their effort and commitment to keeping weightlifting going in the right direction,” declared IWF President Mohammed Jalood.
Starting from December 2022, the ITA developed a Long List throughout the qualification period before the Games. Moreover, since January 2024, the new categorisation rule for National Federation allowed a more agile management in the follow-up of the athletes intended to participate in major events. Finally, an additional effort was made to test all those lifters qualified through the host nation and universality/tripartite quota.
Besides being controlled, 100% of the athletes who qualified for the Paris Olympic Games received anti-doping education as per the mandatory IWF/ITA requirements.
IWF Communications