Weightlifters prepare for World Champs

 NTHAKO MAJORO

MASERU – Lesotho is preparing for the upcoming International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World Youth Championships and the IWF World Championships. The IWF World Youth Championships are set to take place in Jeddah (KAS), Saudi Arabia, from October 1 to 31 while the IWF World Championships have been scheduled from November 1 to 7 in Lima, Peru.

The Lesotho Weightlifting Federation (LWF) Public Relations Officer, Anna Shale, says her organisation was out to scout for weightlifters ahead of the two global events, as well as to ensure that seasoned weightlifters would be fit and ready for the championships. Shale said LWF started scouting for weightlifters last Saturday in the Leribe district as well as assessing the performance of the seasoned athletes and coaches ahead of the two international championships.

“LWF is visiting clubs at district level to scout and assess the performance of the athletes and coaches as part of preparations for the upcoming international games being the World Youth Championships in Jeddah, KSA from October 1 to 31 and the World Championships in Lima, Peru in November,” said Shale in an interview with Public Eye. Shale said her organisation would again visit weightlifters and coaches based in the Quthing district this coming Saturday for the same purpose.

She said LWF will also hold a national weightlifting competition in Mohale’s Hoek on September 11, to be hosted by Bonhomme High School. “The competition in Mohale’s Hoek will be for us to assess the performance of the athletes to be recruited as well as for intensifying our preparation for the upcoming World Championships.”

Shale said the Mohale’s Hoek’s competition is also crucial for the LWF since they will be able to access their technical officials who they trained during the Covid-19 lockdown recently. “You will also member that we have recently held training sessions for our technical officers during the lockdown and so the Mohale’s Hoek’s competition would also provide us with a chance to assess the performance of those coaches.”

LWF does not have clubs in all the 10 districts of Lesotho. In some of the districts where it has clubs it has one on average, like in the Leribe districts, among others. “Currently we don’t have clubs in Qacha’s Nek, among other districts, and we are still recruiting in Mafeteng and are yet to launch officially,” Shale said. None of the country’s weightlifters are older than 20 years.