Moscow to host 2030 International Weightlifting Championships following lifting of Olympic suspensions

Russia

The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) announced on Oct. 25 that the 2030 International Weightlifting Championships will be held in Moscow.

Recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the IWF will be the first Olympic organization to hold a competition in Russia since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

"Concerning the IWF (Senior) World Championships in 2029, it will be staged in Ahmedabad (India), and Moscow (Russia) will host the 2030 edition," the IWF said on its website.

Between its nationwide doping scandal and international outcry over its war with Ukraine, Russia has remained largely sidelined from participating in the Olympics and related competitions since 2017.

On July 7, the IOC provisionally lifted the suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), which had been in place since October 2023. The IOC said on July 7 that the decision followed a legal review that found the ROC "no longer includes as its members any regional sports organizations in territories falling under the jurisdiction of the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Ukraine."

In response, a group of nine European countries urged the European Commission to halt funding programs for international sports organizations allowing Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete. Ukraine's NOC subsequently appealed the IOC's decision for arbitration.

On Oct 14, Dutch authorities refused to grant visas to three Russian gymnasts, preventing them from taking part in the world gymnastics championships held in Rotterdam later that month.

Previously, Moscow hosted ⁠the World Weightlifting Championships in 1983. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia has won a total of 17 medals in Olympic weightlifting competitions. In order to compete internationally, all Russian athletes will have to meet anti-doping requirements set by the IOC.

Russia's all-out war has taken a heavy toll on Ukraine, with hundreds of Ukrainian athletes and coaches killed and hundreds of sports facilities destroyed by Russian missile and drone attacks.