Australian Open & Australian International

Jan 19 2017

Athletes are reminded that they can now register for the Australian Open at www.awf.com.au/registration/ with entries closing on the 5th of February.

The Australian Open and Australian International will be run simultaneously, with the Australian International being operated under full IWF rules and regulations to meet IWF criteria to be a recognised as a 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games Qualifying Event, this includes no more than 2 athletes per bodyweight category per country.

On the 23rd December, 2016, the IWF approved the 2017 Australian International to be recognised as a 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games Qualifying Event.

Invitations to contest the Australian International have been circulated to all IWF affiliated National Weightlifting Federations. Each nation that takes up the invitation will be able to enter eight male and eight female athletes who will contest the 16 bodyweight categories that will lift-off with the F48k category on Friday morning and finish with the M+105k category on Sunday evening.

Weightlifters from Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Samoa, Nauru, Malaysia, PNG, Cook Islands, Palau and other nations will compete alongside each other in the Australian Open which will run simultaneously with the Australian International providing a wonderful opportunity for AWF athletes who are not selected for the Australian team to contest a truly international event.

Commonwealth Games Australia Nomination Criteria – Weightlifting, was submitted to the Commonwealth Games Australia (CGA) on 13th January, 2017 and is expected to be approved by the CGA no later than 31st March, 2017. In the meantime the nomination process will be emailed to all State Members, posted on the AWF website and sent out through AWF social media channels. Any questions about the nomination process can be directed toward Brendan Kennedy, AWF High Performance Coordinator, via email [email protected] or mobile 0408 955 698.

AWF athletes who are following a training and competition plan that includes contesting the Australian Open and whose performances in 2016 achieved a minimum of AWF AI Standard and earned them a top two bodyweight category ranking will be considered for selection. The IWF has stipulated that any athlete who wishes to contest the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games must have lifted in a minimum of one IWF Qualifying Event. In accounting for this requirement priority will be given to selecting those athletes who have not previously contested an IWF Qualifying Event, thus giving the AWF a larger cohort of athletes engaged in the nomination process.

It is reiterated that entries close for the Australian Open on 5th February, 2017. To avoid any disappointment we encourage those eligible athletes who wish to be considered for a place in the Australian team to contest the Australian International, and other athletes who wish to contest a weightlifting event that includes athletes from overseas, to submit your Australian Open entry ASAP.

Regards
Michael Keelan