IWF Withdraws 2018 Junior World Championships From North Korea

IWF Withdraws 2018 Junior World Championships From North Korea

At the end of its recent executive board meeting, the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) announced it had withdrawn the 2018 Junior World Weightlifting Championships from its original location in North Korea and awarded it instead to Uzbekistan.

Oct 3, 2017 by Jennifer Zahn
IWF Withdraws 2018 Junior World Championships From North Korea
At the end of its recent executive board meeting, the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) announced it has withdrawn the 2018 Junior World Weightlifting Championships from its original location in North Korea and awarded the competition instead to Uzbekistan:

"The final decision of the IWF EB was to award the hosting rights of the 2018 IWF Junior World Championships to Uzbekistan. The Junior World Championships had originally been awarded two years ago to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea."

The move may benefit American athletes. When the IWF announced North Korea as the destination for World Juniors, many speculated this may bar U.S. competitors from attending the event, since the U.S. does not have diplomatic relations with North Korea. In June, USA Weightlifting addressed concerns with this statement:

"USA Weightlifting admires the IWF's ambition to place sport before politics. Together with our coaches, athletes, their parents and relevant authorities we will evaluate U.S. participation in the 2018 IWF Junior World Championships in Pyongyang, Democratic People's Republic of Korea."

This story is still developing -- stay tuned to FloElite for updates.