Four nations that have never hosted the event – Bahrain, Venezuela, Armenia and Albania – are among the five bidders to host the 2024 International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World Championships.
The fifth bidder, Peru, has hosted the senior World Championships once before, way back in 1971 when it was a men-only competition.
Peru has also hosted the IWF Youth World Championships twice since 2011.
Albania has held the European Championships twice in the past 10 years, plus the continental junior championships and, last June, the IWF Electoral Congress in its capital city Tirana.
Starting two weeks today it is also due to host the IWF World Youth Championships for the first time in Durres, during which there is scheduled to be a IWF Board meeting on March 30.
Should its bid be successful, the 2024 IWF World Championships would be the biggest event in any sport ever hosted by Albania.
Yerevan, the Armenian capital, is set to host this year’s European Championships – an Olympic qualifier – from April 15 until 23.
It was originally scheduled to stage the 1983 IWF World Championships but, back when Armenia was part of the Soviet Union, the event was moved to Moscow.
The 1983 Pan American Games were staged in Venezuela, which has hosted dozens of international events in a range of sports including two Pan American Weightlifting Championships this century, but never a global weightlifting event.
Bahrain earned praise from athletes and officials last October after stepping in at short notice to host the Asian Championships.
When a festival of strength sports is staged in Manama, its capital city, next week it will feature an innovative street weightlifting competition in which the Olympic champion Meso Hassona from Qatar and world champion Lesman Paredes, Colombian born Bahraini, are due to lift.
At the Closing Ceremony of the Asian Championships last year Meso said, “Seriously, they deserve a World Championships. For the athletes this has been a fantastic competition.”
Bulgaria also wanted to register its interest but a leadership dispute was not resolved in time for its national governing body to meet the bidding deadline.
In the past, there has not been an IWF World Championships in an Olympic year but, because the athlete quota is so low in Paris, at 120, the governing body has decided to stage its own event too.
Last year’s IWF World Championships took place in Bogotá in Colombia.
Riyadh in Saudi Arabia is due to host this year’s event between September 2 and 17.
Source: insidethegames