India at London » Weightlifting

Indian weightlifters not to compete courtesy IWF

nimish — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 22:57:41 +0000

We are making a habit of it. First it was the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) and now it’s the Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWF). IWF’s laxity in furnishing necessary visa documents for the Indian weightlifting squads has resulted in the tour to Korea for Junior and Youth Asian Championships (December 3-5, 2008) and the tour to Cyprus for the Commonwealth Championships (December 5-7) being called off. Like in the TTFI episode, the IWF General Secretary B R Gulati and the President Harbhajan Singh have put the blame squarely on the consulates of Korea and Cyprus. It’s high time we sack these officials.

Gender Determination Tests for Women Lifters

nimish — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:04:53 +0000

The Weightlifting Federation of India has decided to conduct gender determination tests for women lifters and they plan to make it mandatory at national level competitions. The sports community is up in arms at the move. The argument being made by the woman weightlifters against the test is that the International Olympic committee has officially stopped gender testing in 1999 and only in the rarest of cases is gender testing allowed and that too after a complaint. So why force such a requirement and open a can of worms? The other argument being made is that this move is tantamount to the harassment of women, who have been the face of Indian weightlifting.

I don’t quite agree with both these arguments. Back in December 2006 at the Asian Games in Doha, Indian sprinter Santhi Sounderarajan was stripped of her silver medal, in the Women’s 800m event, for failing a gender test. Such incidents bring great disrepute to Indian sports. In fact, when a SAI doctor claims that there has been a history of male Indian athletes trying to pass as women, we must take cognizance of the issue and tackle it head on. I assume that these tests will ensure that the medals in the women category are actually won by women.

So, why the big hue and cry? I get the feeling that the argument against this gender test is more media-led. What do you think?

Indian Weightlifting – when it comes to power it’s all about the ladies

avnish — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 08:37:19 +0000

Weightlifting is one of the few sports where we have an Olympic medal – thanks to Karnam Malleswari’s bronze medal winning effort at Sydney 2000.

It is also one of those rare mainstream sports where Indian women have completely overshadowed their male counterparts. It would not be wrong to say that this sport has completely rested on the broad shoulders of Indian women; shoulders which have proven to be far more capable and powerful than those of Indian men.

This sport could well serve as a shining example that the Indian woman is no longer weak and timid. These weightlifters could serve as such great role models - it’s surprising that our advertisers have missed out on this goldmine.

While Indian men have not even had a whiff of a medal at either the World Championship or the Olympics, the women have got a bagful of medals. The best male performances have been an 8th place finish at the World Championship way back in 1957 and a 10th place finish at the 1988 Olympics. The women on the other hand have won 40 medals at the Worlds in addition to the Olympic bronze.

India’s power women can surely take a bow.

An Introduction to Weightlifting

nimish — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 09:56:43 +0000

Weightlifting is the oldest and most basic form of physical competition.. Early ‘strongman’ contests developed into the modern sport of Weightlifting during the 19th century. While it may seem deceptively easy, Weightlifting requires a combination of power, speed, technique, concentration and timing. Today, the world’s strongest men and women regularly lift more than three times their body weight. Men’s weightlifting was on the programme of the first modern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896, in St. Louis in 1904, in Antwerp in 1920 and every Olympic Games thereafter. Women participated for the first time at the Olympic Games in Sydney in 2000.

Competition:
Lifters perform two types of lifts - the snatch and the clean and jerk. In the snatch, they lift the bar to arm’s length above their head in one movement. In the clean and jerk, they lift the bar to their shoulders, stand up straight, then jerk the bar to arm’s length above their head. Lifters are allowed three attempts at each lift, and their best snatch and best clean-and-jerk figures are added to determine the winners.

List of Events:

56 kg Men
62 kg Men
69 kg Men
77 kg Men
85 kg Men
94 kg Men
105 kg Men
> 105 kg Men
48 kg Women
53 kg Women
58 kg Women
63 kg Women
69 kg Women
75 kg Women
> 75 kg Women

Jargon Buster:

Press out: An illegal move where the Lifter bends the arms while holding the bar overhead, then presses them out to make them straight.
No lift: A lift that is judged to be illegal.
Squat: To drop while bending the legs with the feet to either side.
Hooking: A technique used to hold the bar, where the thumbs are placed around the bar and underneath the index and second fingers.