Moscow will host the 2030 World Weightlifting Championships – the first time an Olympic federation has chosen to stage a international occasion in Russia since the nation’s invasion of Ukraine started in 2022.
The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) announced its choice on Sunday, 4 months after confirming Russian athletes would again be eligible to compete in its occasions.
In July, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) provisionally lifted a suspension on the Russian Olympic Committee.
That suspension had been imposed following the nation’s invasion of Ukraine.
The IOC’s subsequent choice probably opened the means for Russian athletes to compete for their nation at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
The IWF announced the host cities of 4 world championships at junior, youth and senior ranges, awarding the 2029 senior occasion to Ahmedabad in India.
“All the bids we received were excellent and we are sure that the championships in your respective countries will be a huge success,” said IWF basic secretary Jose Quinones.
No world championships in an Olympic sport, summer season or winter, have been held in Russia since the begin of the conflict in Ukraine.
The 2025 World Aquatics Championships, initially awarded to the Russian metropolis of Kazan, were instead moved to Singapore.
Moscow has not held the World Weightlifting Championships since 1983.
The Russian Weightlifting Federation said: “[We are] the first Olympic sports federation to succeed in bringing a top-level official competition back to the country in many years.”
Federation president Aleksandr Vinokurov thanked the IWF in a post on Telegram “for their trust”, with the championships also serving as a qualifying occasion for the 2032 Olympic Games in Brisbane, Australia.
“Russia has all the necessary experience and capabilities to host competitions of the highest level,” he said.
“Moscow has repeatedly staged major international sporting events and has modern infrastructure.”
In saying its choice in July to provisionally raise Russia’s suspension, the IOC said that no choice had been taken on whether Russia could show their flag, colors and anthem at the Olympic Games.
The IOC said it would proceed to “not organise IOC events in Russia or invite Russian government or state officials to its events”.
Some Russian athletes competed at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games and this yr’s Winter Olympics in Milan as neutrals.
Ukraine filed an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) requesting that the IOC choice to raise its suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee be annulled.
The IOC’s transfer choice came after the International Paralympic Committee had already ended Russia’s exile from international sports activities occasions, with the nation’s athletes allowed to compete under their national flag at the Winter Paralympics.
Five Ukrainian athletes are listed to compete in the 2026 IWF World Championships in Ningbo, China, which are scheduled to take place from 27 October to 8 November.
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