2015 OWF ANNUAL REPORT

Transcription

1 2015 OWF ANNUAL REPORT Oceania Weightlifting Federation PB 333, Noumea Cedex NEW CALEDONIA Telephone: or Mobile: or Website:

2 OCEANIA WEIGHTLIFTING FEDERATION 2015 ANNUAL REPORT PREAMBLE The OWF has once again produced excellent results over this past 12 months. The Oceania Championships for senior, junior and youth was held for the first time in conjunction with the Pacific Games in Port Moresby. It produced the highest number of competitors and country participation in its history. Other highlights was the successful elite training camp held at the Oceania Weightlifting Institute prior to the World Championships. The fourth year of the OTIP program was a remarkable success breaking the 5,000 entry mark a mark which we predicted would happen this year. Another highlight in the region was the Commonwealth Youth Games held in Samoa which produced four gold, four silver and six bronze medals for the Oceania region. In addition the OWF Development seminar held in Apia was exceptional. It gives us immense pride and satisfaction in highlighting the OWF achievements for this year. FEBRUARY 2015 SEMINAR IN PNG In the first week of February, the General Secretary spent a full week in Papua New Guinea holding coaching and technical seminars as well as visit the sites and facilities for the upcoming Pacific Games.. Weightlifting in PNG is enjoying great recognition in the country as the most successful sport internationally. Since Sir John Dawanincura and his team took over the sport, it has literally gone from strength to strength. Sir John Dawanincura with Paul Coffa at a press conference. FEBRUARY PACIFIC ISLANDS TOURNAMENT The 2015 Pacific Islands tournament turned out to be a great success. This tournament is producing some excellent results every year and it is good for the island nations as it kick starts their year of competition. The OWF is delighted to see that 335 lifters competed and just as important to see that 15 countries participated. FEBRUARY 2015 Al Jazeera TV Paul Rhys, a sports journalist with Al Jazeera International Television network spent a few days in New Caledonia, doing a story on Morea Baru from Papua New Guinea and at the same time the Oceania Weightlifting Institute. The segment was put to air in March. MARCH 2015 ARNOLD INTERNATIONAL On the 14 th of March the Australian Weightlifting Federation held the Arnold International Tournament at the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre. The competition was organised in two sessions. The women s session was held at 10.30am in the morning with 16 lifters competing and the men session was held at 2.00pm in the afternoon with 15 lifters participating. The overall best lifter on Sinclair formula in the women was Erika Ropati-Frost. Whilst in the men, the best lifter on Sinclair formula was Morea Baru from Papua New Guinea who competed in the 62kg category, totalling 278kg The event attracted a large audience throughout the day. As it was part of the Arnold Classic Expo, thousands of people who were attending also stopped to watch the weightlifting. APRIL 2015 ONOC GENERAL SECRETARY VISIT Mr. Ricardo Blas, Secretary General of ONOC and President of the Guam National Olympic Committee on Friday, 10th April, spent almost a full day at the Oceania Weightlifting Institute in Mont Dore, New Caledonia. Whilst at the Institute he took the opportunity to meet the 25 weightlifting athletes from the 12 Pacific nations who are resident at the Institute. This was the first visit to the Institute for Mr. Blas and he was very impressed with not only the facilities, the set up but with the attitude of the 25 athletes in residence. Speaking to the athletes, he informed them, that he was happy to see the dividends coming through from the investments made by ONOC through solidarity, scholarships and other programs. Results were of paramount importance and he was pleased to see these results coming from the Institute

3 APRIL 2015 ONOC EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR VISIT On Friday April 17 the ONOC Executive Director, Mr. Dennis Miller, spent almost a full day at the Oceania Weightlifting Institute in Mont Dore, New Caledonia. Dennis enjoyed the afternoon session of heavy training on Friday. He was joined for the session, by the Executive Director of the CTOS, Michel Quintin, and the President of Halterophilie in New Caledonia, Mr. Laurent Cassier and the Charge de Mission of the CTOS, Mr. Paul-Antoine Grangeon. Dennis, later that evening was a guest of the usual and now quite famous, institute Friday night dinner. Paul Coffa with Dennis Miller Since the establishment of the institute program in Sigatoka, Fiji, in 2002, Dennis Miller has been responsible in providing ONOC/Solidarity scholarships to many pacific island lifters. And some of the recipients have gone on to win gold medals, silver medals and bronze medals at the Commonwealth Games and few have finished up winning medals at World Championships. APRIL/MAY ONOC ASSEMBLY This year the ONOC Assembly was held in the luxurious Grand Pacific Hotel in Suva. A full week of seminars and meeting were held culminating with the ONOC Assembly on Saturday, 2nd May. Over 250 guests and delegates were in attendance including the President of the IOC, Mr. Thomas Bach. The Oceania Weightlifting Federation was represented by the Hon. Marcus Stephen, President(also President of the Nauru Olympic Committee) Paul Coffa, OWF General Secretary and Trent Dabwido, OWF Assistant Secretary. It was interesting to hear the President of the Republic of Fiji, in his opening speech praise the success of weightlifting in the region. He named all of the medal winners of the Pacific Islands at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games. ONOC has weightlifting as a Tier 1 sport. And we share this position with rugby. Making it only two sports at Tier 1 level in the entire region. IOC President Thomas Bach with Paul Coffa and OWF President Hon. Marcus Stephen. Sir John Dawanincura President of PNG Weightlifting with IOC President Thomas Bach and Paul Coffa. MAY PNG DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM. The Weightlifting Federation of PNG which has invested very heavily in the sport of weightlifting, sent a their junior squad to the Oceania Weightliftng Institute in preparation for the Oceania Championships which was held in conjunction with the Pacific Games. This squad spent a full month at the Institute. MAY 2015 INSTITUTE VISIT BY SPORTS LEADERS During the month the institute was visited by leading sports officials from the Melanesian Region Members of the Papua New Guinea Sports Foundation together with the four PNG lifters based at the Oceania Institute in Mont Dore. Melanesian VIP s top Sports Administrators visiting the Oceania Weightlifting Institute.

4 JUNE SPORTS MINISTER VISITS THE INSTITUTE On Thursday, 4th June, a surprise visit was made by the New Caledonia Minister for Sport, Health and Youth, the Hon. Valentine Eurisouke. This was the Minister's first visit to the Oceania Weightlifting Institute and she was pleasantly surprised and very pleased to see 25 athletes in residence coming from 12 countries of the pacific. She addressed the athletes and wished them all. The Minister expressed how delighted she was that New Caledonia was able to contribute to their progress and their success. JULY 2015 ZKC INTERNATIONAL TOURNAMENT: The ZKC International Club Tournament held in the month of June was once again a great success for club lifters. The winning club in the male section was MANU SAMOA. In the female section the winning club was the LTD CLUB from Papua New Guinea. The two winning clubs received two Olympic barbell sets from ZKC who is the sponsor of the tournament. On behalf of the OWF, I would like to thank the General Manager of the ZKC Company, Mr. Zhang Zhiguo, for his support and contribution towards this event and also towards the development of weightlifting at club level worldwide. We also would like to thank the IWF for their support in promoting the event. JULY PACIFIC GAMES & OCEANIA CHAMPIONSHIPS Port Moresby made history in weightlifting. For the first time ever, 21 countries took part.. These Games attracted the highest number of competitors in its history. The television coverage was excellent. Four days of direct telecast. The crowd was large, extremely enthusiastic and in some categories like the 53kg and 94kg, it was standing room only. For the first time in Games history, we had the pleasure of having the President of the International Weightlifting Federation Dr.Tamas Ajan in attendance. Also from Malaysia, we had the IWF Vice President and the President of the Commonwealth Weightlifting Federation, Dato Ong Poh Eng, together with Mr. Attila Adamfi the IWF Director General. We were also honoured with the attendance of Prince Andrew, Duke of York during the 48Kg category on the first day of the Games. Mr Attila Adamfi,IWF Director General meets Prince Andrew Duke of York in Port Moresby. The weightlifting venue in Port Moresby. It was almost full at every sessions. The stadium was set up similar to a world championships. The venue was of World Championships standard. The warm up area had 10platforms all ZKC equipment. All other facilities were provided in close proximity to the warm up area, such as the weigh-in, rest rooms, saunas, etc. At the opening ceremony, 50% of the countries flag bearers were weightlifters. Dika Toua was the final baton runner and she lit the torch. The loaders, did a tremendous job for the four day duration. It was nice to see that Jerry Wallwork, OWF 1st Vice President, at the conclusion of the Games was awarded the best coach of the Games. Everyday we witnessed great battles, with many of the categories decided on the last lift. The technical officials did a splendid job. The competition ran smoothly with no hiccups at all. Garry Marshall, the OWF Technical Chairman, coordinated the technical team beautifully. Whilst the MC, Lyn Jones, as we have all come to expect - was the best of the best, assisted by Trent Dabwido who also did a great job. Bowen Stuart, Ian Moir and Trent Dabwido, set up the competition system which operated faultlessly. Sir John Dawanincura President PNG Weightlifting standing behind the PNG Prime Minister The Hon. Peter O Neill. Sitting from left: Dato Ong Poh Eng Vice President IWF, The Prime Minister of PNG, Dr Tamas Ajan IWF President and PNG Minister of Sports Hon. Justin Tkatchenko

5 Many thanks must go to the Government of PNG, the PNG National Olympic Committee, the Minister for Sport the Hon. Justin Tkatchenko, and of course Mr Andrew Daubney, the Marketing Manager of Trukai Industries. Without his assistance we would have faced difficulties in patching up the many areas which we had to coming up to the last few days before the Games started. The Organising Committee of Weightlifting under the leadership of Sir John Dawanincura did an excellent job. This developmental success in the last 15 years in the Oceania Region must be attributed to ONOC/IOC, the IWF and the Oceania Weightlifting Institute for taking the sport to the high levels of participation and growth. Their collective contribution whether through funding, guidance, and the provision of opportunities that the Institute in New Caledonia has provided, has made weightlifting what it is today OCEANIA CONGRESS & EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING On July 3rd, in the presence of Dr. Tamas Ajan IWF President, Dato Ong IWF Vice President, Mr. Attila Adamfi IWF DirectorGeneral, and Mr. Andrew Minogue Executive Director of the Pacific Games Council, the OWF held its Annual Congress at the ElaBeach Hotel in Port Moresby. The Congress had the highest number of country attendance. Presentations, awards, and reports were made during the Congress. Fiji was awarded the 2016 Oceania Senior, Junior and Youth Championships and Olympic Qualification Event. The night before, on July 2nd, the OWF Executive Board meeting was held at the Trukai Industries board room where many issues were discussed in relation to the OWF. The OWF Annual Congress held in Port Moresby on July 3rd OWF Executive Board Meeting held on July the 2 nd in PNG. SEPTEMBER 2015 COMMONWEALTH YOUTH GAMES: Samoa, from the 5 th to the 11 th September hosted the 5 th Commonwealth Youth Games in Apia. The Organising Committee did a splendid a job. Sixty five countries took part with 1000 athletes. In the sport of weightlifting 23 countries participated with 81 entries. The weightlifting event which ran for four days was organised by Jerry Wallwork President of the Samoa Weightlifting Federation. The event ran smoothly and it was professionally organised. Jerry did an outstanding job, not only in the running of the event but also ensuring that the international technical officials were well taken care of. The IWF sent in their own technicians to run the competition software and ensure a smooth running of the competition. Moira Lassen, IWF Executive Board Member, did a great job in her role as Games Planning and Delivery Advisor The Oceania lifters did very well, winning 4 Gold, 4 Silver and 6 Bronze.. FIJI won 2 Gold and 2 silvers (Gold to Ulina Sagone and Eileen Cikamatana) New Zealand won 1 Gold 1 silver and 1 Bronze (Gold to Vernon Leslie Taylor) Samoa won 1 Gold, 1 Silver and 1 Bronze ( Gold to Maeu Nanai Livi) Australia won 3 Bronze Solomon Islands won 1 Bronze Eileen Cikamatana - Fiji Gold 58Kg Ulina Sagone- Fiji Gold 53Kg Maeu Livi -Samoa Gold 85Kg Vernon Taylor Gold 94Kg New Zealand

6 OCTOBER 2015 COMMONWEALTH CHAMPIONSHIPS- PUNE: The 2015 Commonwealth Senior, Junior and Youth Championships were held in Pune, India at the same venue which hosted the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games weightlifting event. The President of the Indian Weightlifting Federation Shri Birendra Prasad Baishya promised everyone twelve months earlier that the championships in India would be of the highest standard. Sure enough it was. The accommodation and food was superb. The competition hall was well set up with 8 warm up platforms, and all other requirements in place. The Oceania region was represented by 8 countries winning 6 gold, 3 silver and 3 bronze medals in the senior category. At the CWF Annual Congress the 2016 championships were awarded to Penang Malaysia, whilst the 2017 championships were awarded to the Gold Coast, Australia as this will also be a test event for the 2018 Commonwealth Games. COMMONWEALTH SENIOR MEDALS Samoa won 2 Gold (Gold to Mary Opeloge and Siaosi Leuo) Nauru won 1 Gold (Gold to Itte Detenamo) Kiribati won 1 Gold, ( Gold to David Katoatau) Fiji won 1 Gold ( Gold to Apolonia Vaivai) Cook Islands 1 Gold (Gold to Luisa Peters) Australia won 2 Silver (Silver to Francoise Ateondi and Damon Kelly ) Solomon Islands 1 Silver (Silver to Jenly Wini) Papua New Guinea 3 Bronze (Bronze to Dika Toua, Thelma Toua and Toua Udia.) Luisa Peters Cook Islands Gold +75Kg David Katoatau Kiribati Gold 105Kg Itte Detenamo Nauru Gold +105Kg Apolonia Vaivai Fiji Gold 69Kg Mary Opeloge Samoa Gold 75Kg Siaosi Leuo Samoa Gold 94Kg OCTOBER OTIP PROGRAM 5039 entries a record Four years ago, we planned to reach 5,000 entries in And this has now been achieved. We are delighted with the results. The OTIP program this year attracted over 5,039 school participants from 60 schools. This program is attracting hundreds and hundreds of youngsters to take up the sport, both girls and boys. We have seen in the last few years many kids who started through the OTIP program who are lifting at Oceania and National Championships. In fact some have won gold medals at the recent Commonwealth Youth Games. Again, we are delighted that Dr. Tamas Ajan, the President of the IWF has fully backed this project from the beginning and we are indebted to his support and the contribution given towards the project. Of course the same sentiments also apply to ONOC who have also supported this unique talent identification scheme. Special thanks must also go to Eva Moska and the Continental Development Program for having faith all along in this OTIP project.

7 OCTOBER - OCEANIA ELITE TRAINING CAMP The OWF with the assistance of the Continental Development Program of the IWF held a training camp for most of the top lifters of the Oceania region, who were regarded as possible Rio prospects. These lifters trained together as a combined unit, at the Oceania Weightlifting Institute, in Mont Dore, New Caledonia, in October 25 th November 4 th. This training camp has been set up specifically in this period as lifters prepare for the World Championships to be held in Houston in the month of November. The OWF acknowledges and appreciates the co-operation of those regional national weightlifting federations whose lifters were invited to this camp. Francois Etoundi- Australia Kimberly Taguacta Guam Lautiti Lui- Samoa NOVEMBER WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP- HOUSTON This year s World Championships in Houston was magnificent. The Organising Committee did a superb job in organising in the same hotel, the training venue, the competition venue and the accommodation. Lifters and coaches did not have to worry about transport. It was an ideal situation all around. The Americans most certainly took the championships to another level. The stage presentation has never been seen before in the way it was set up. Magnificent! The crowd enjoyed the championships and the battles which occurred every single day. Oceania was represented by Australia, New Zealand, Cook Islands, American Samoa, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Micronesia, Marshall Islands, Guam, Kiribati, Palau and Nauru. Unfortunately Samoa was not able to make it due to not receiving their USA Visa in time. Trukai Marketing Manager Mr Andrew Daubney and his wife Deb in Houston with Pyrros Dimas- Greece,three times Olympic Gold medallist. Manuel Minginfel Micronesia on stage in Houston. Manuel is trying to make the 2016 Olympics. It would be his fifth Olympics. The competition stage in Houston was of another world in weightlifting. The crowd was enthusiastic and the lifting was spectacular. The results of our Oceania lifters in some categories was quite good but on the average the results were mediocre. Not necessarily a fault of the lifters. Most of the pacific island lifters spent 9 days in Fiji where they had to apply and wait for their USA visa. So their training routine was interrupted one week before the World Championships. Nevertheless it was an experience for all of them. Especially for those lifters who competed for the first time at a World Championships. DECEMBER- ELITE DEVELOPMENT SEMINAR With the assistance of the IWF Development Program, Dr. Tamas Ajan agreed to fund this unique seminar which was held in Samoa on December 5 th and 6 th. The concept behind this seminar was to assemble a number of leading coaches from within the Oceania region in order to discuss and establish a five year plan taking in to account training camps for elite lifters, 2018 Commonwealth Games medal plan, identifying possible medal athletes for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the future of the OTIP program, technical and coaching development, recruiting, and other related areas. It was an outstanding success with many recommendations which will now be put in place for the OWF Executive Board to review.

8 DECEMBER - OTIP TRAINING CAMP The OTIP program for 2015 finished on Sunday 20 th December, and what a great year it was entries from 148 schools. (3020 boys and 2019 girls ) This program has truly become an identity in schools in the Pacific islands. Countries, schools and coaches are now looking forward each year to identify students who will potentially be their next generation of weightlifting athletes. The program has grown each year and it was rewarding to see so many of these students who have participated in the OTIP program competing in the Oceania Championships, Glasgow Commonwealth Games, Olympic Youth Games in Nanjing, the Pacific Games in Port Moresby and the recent Commonwealth Youth Games in Apia-Samoa.. This is truly amazing, that in a short span of time the national federations have been able to successfully tap in on the identification of talent. This year the OTIP training camp was organised for some students in January and the majority of students in December. These are some of the lifters attending the training camp this year: Benet Kumeroa New Zealand Mr Laurent Cassier presents the OWF medal Yasmin Carter- Australia to Lepeka Felieisi from Tuvalu DECEMBER - PACIFIC CUP TOURNAMENT The 2015 Pacific Cup International Tournament was held on the 19th of December in Mont Dore in New Caledonia. Lifters from 12 countries took part. Without doubt the most outstanding lifter was Manueli Tulo from Fiji.in the 56kg category. He snatched 109kg and clean & jerked 137kg for a total of 246kg. He now ranks first in the Oceania region and third in the Commonwealth DECEMBER - AUSTRALIAN OPEN The first Australia Open International Tournament was held in Brisbane on December 12th -13th. The event was a brilliant success. Almost 70 lifters competed, including lifters from New Zealand and the Cook Islands. On Sinclair formula the best male lifter was Simplice Riibouem in the 94Kg category, whilst the best female lifter was Seen Lee in the 63Kg The next Australia Open International will be held in March 2016 in Brisbane. As 2016 is the Olympic Year, the Organising Committee expect a large number of Oceania countries to attend.

9 COMMITTEES Mr. Garry Marshall, the Technical Commissioner of the OWF and CWF has once again done a great job in coordinating all the technical groups attending tournaments throughout the year. Also lecturing and upgrading referees at different events. A further technical seminar will be held in the month of December. Mrs. Lilly Coffa, the Women Commissioner, continues to encourage the development of women in weightlifting across a broad range of roles. Dr. Lisamoni Kami, the Medical Commissioner of the OWF and the CWF, has been kept busy with seminars and meetings throughout the year. OCEANIA WEIGHTLIFTING INSTITUTE Success breeds success. The Oceania Weightlifting Institute is a success at its best. The program continues to produce excellent lifters from the pacific islands region as well as regional coaches. This year the Institute was once again at full capacity with 60 lifters utilizing the institute from the following 19 countries New Zealand, Kiribati, Niue, Cook Islands, Tonga, Samoa, American Samoa, Tuvalu, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Australia, Papua New Guinea, Nauru, Kiribati, Micronesia, Guam, Palau, Wallis and Futuna, and New Caledonia. The Institute also saw two coaches graduate, after spending a full year at the Institute funded by the IOC. One was David Katoatau from Kiribati and the other was Logona Esau from Tuvalu. Dr Tamas Ajan presents The Oceania Coaching Diploma to David Katoatau from Kiribati in Houston November Dr Tamas Ajan, President IWF presents Logona Esau from Tuvalu the Oceania Coaching Diploma in Port Moresby in the month of July-2015 CONCLUSION In conclusion, we want to thank the IWF Development Continental program for financially assisting the OWF during the last twelve months and in particular Dr. Tamas Ajan and the IWF Office staff for their continued support. We would also like to express our gratitude to ONOC for their support and also their specific support towards the institute athletes. In addition we would like to thank the IOC, the CTOS, the City of Mont Dore, and naturally the New Caledonia Government for their continued support to the region... Hon.. Marcus Stephen MP PRESIDENT Paul Coffa MBE GENERAL SECRETARY