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The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) announced on Sunday that Moscow will host the 2030 world weightlifting championships, making it the first Olympic federation to award Russia global staging rights since 2022.
No world championships in an Olympic sport, summer or winter, have taken place in Russia since the start of the war against Ukraine. The 2025 world swimming championships, initially slated for Russia's Kazan, were moved to Singapore.
“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 in a statement.
IWF General Secretary Jose Quinones said, “All the bids we received were excellent,” and expressed confidence that the championships in the respective countries will succeed.
Russian Weightlifting Federation President Aleksandr Vinokurov thanked the IWF “for their trust” in a Telegram post.
He said Russia has the experience and capabilities to host top-level competitions and that Moscow has staged major international events and has modern infrastructure. The 2030 championships will also serve as a qualifying event for the 2032 Olympic Games.
The Russian federation said it is the first Olympic sports federation to bring a top-level official competition back to the country in many years.
The decision follows an International Olympic Committee (IOC) announcement of a pathway for Russian athletes to return to international competition.
On July 7, the IOC eased restrictions and opened a route for Russians to compete in qualifying events for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Russian athletes have competed under various arrangements, most recently as Individual Neutral Athletes, after the World Anti-Doping Agency said a state-sponsored doping program operated at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics and after Russia launched its assault on Ukraine in 2022.
Ukraine has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), asking it to annul the IOC decision.
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