The IWF Athletes' Commission expects that the scholarships will be an important resource for weightlifters as they seek Olympic success.
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The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) has started a program for athlete scholarships to help lifters with the costs associated with trying to reach the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024. Ten weightlifters from around the world will receive financing, and Pyrros Dimas, the triple Olympic champion, and Tokyo 2020 gold medalist Maude Charron will be among those choosing the awardees. Mohammed Jalood, the president of the IWF, would personally provide $5,000 (£4,000/€4,500) towards the program’s $30,000 (£24,000/€27,500) in funds.
The International Weightlifting Federation Athletes’ Commission, under the leadership of Forrester Osei, came up with the idea for the scholarships. The commission wants to help athletes succeed by giving them access to top-notch facilities and practical support, such as assistance with travel. Osei stressed the value of helping weightlifters who most require it, particularly those who reside in nations with lower-than-average GDP and per capita income.
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Weightlifters must have competed in at least one Olympic qualifying event or have entered one before the May 31 application deadline in order to be considered for a scholarship. Only those with a spotless drug record and a top-25 ranking in their weight category in the IWF Olympic qualification rankings will be taken into consideration. The goal is to choose no more than one weightlifter in any weight category from each of the five continental federations, one male and one female. Athletes rather than their national federation will receive three payments of $1,000 (£805/€915) each as scholarship recipients. The project will get a restricted amount of financing from the IWF Executive Board from July through the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
The IWF Athletes’ Commission expects that the scholarships will be an important resource for weightlifters as they seek Olympic success. Dimas, who won three gold medals for Greece in 1992, 1996, and 2000, is currently USA Weightlifting’s performance director. The selection committee will include Pyrros Dimas who is an unaffiliated adviser and Maude Charron, a rising champion athlete in the sport.
Osei, who hoped to award scholarships with monthly payments of $500 (£400/€460) over a longer period, acknowledged that the funding is lower than anticipated. He said that “with limited funding, we can only accommodate athletes with a good performance record.” The commission will seek sponsors for future support and will discuss precise details at an upcoming meeting. Information on how to apply for the scholarships will be available by April 18. The scholarship program will also support an initiative to retain athletes in the sport as coaches or technical officials.
