Weightlifting Fiji remains hopeful that the sport is part of the Paris Olympics

Weightlifting Fiji President Della Shaw says they are delighted around 90% of the member countries voted for a constitutional reform of the International Weightlifting Federation.

The International Olympic Committee President Thomas Balch had said that they need to see a new culture in the IWF and a clear out of the “old guard” in the board who have been repeatedly criticized regarding allegations of widespread corruption, mostly relating to doping.

The IOC had also threatened to drop weightlifting from the 2024 Paris Olympics altogether if these issues were not sorted out.

Speaking to fijivillage, Shaw says the voting was done to ensure that weightlifting remains an Olympic sport.

Shaw adds that if the sport is removed from the Olympics, this would also mean that they lose all the funding from the IOC which Weightlifting Fiji heavily relies upon.

When questioned on the possibility of Eileen Cikamatana competing for Fiji in the future, Shaw says Cikamatana is now the past and they wish her all the best.

Cikamatana who won gold for Fiji in the 2018 Commonwealth Games had said that she will not be representing the country again.