Chief of Staff of the Prime Minister Arayik Harutyunyan participated in the press conference on the 2027 World Weightlifting Championship at the Karen Demirchyan Sport and Concert Complex in Yerevan today.
Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports Zhanna Andreasyan, President of the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) Mohammed Jalood, General Secretary of the International Weightlifting Federation Antonio Urso, Secretary General of the Armenian Weightlifting Federation and head coach of the national team Pashik Alaverdyan also participated in the press conference.
Within the framework of the visit of the delegation of the International Weightlifting Federation, details were presented regarding the preparations for the organization of the championship.
Arayik Harutyunyan welcomed the attendees and noted that in the history of hosting such events, this is the first world championship of an Olympic sport to be held in Armenia. According to the Chief of Staff the Prime Minister, the right to hold the 2027 World Weightlifting Championship in the Republic of Armenia was granted by the decision of the Congress and Executive Committee of the International Weightlifting Federation in Thailand, taking into account Armenia’s experience in holding such events, including the European Weightlifting Championship.
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“I congratulate all of us on this occasion. In fact, we already have a history of holding such big events in recent years: the European Boxing Championship, and the European Weightlifting Championship, the Sambo World Championship, while the UEFA Futsal Champions League finals ended in Armenia a few days ago, and the final match was a big event. We want to continue this tradition, because it has a serious impact on the development of our sports sector, the development of the economy, because it ensures the visibility of Armenia. For example, the European Weightlifting Championship was broadcast in about 200 countries through the Olympic Channel, the finals of the Futsal Champions League was broadcast in about 70 countries. Armenia is constantly seen in this field and area, and we are very happy about it.
There is another very important thing: we see that for decades our athletes have gone to big events in other countries and seen how it happens in those countries, how fans come and support their athletes right in the sports complexes. Now they see that Armenia also organizes such big events and creates such opportunities for our athletes, and the results speak best about it. We showed an unprecedented result at the last championship in Yerevan, our athletes won 36 medals in weightlifting,” said Arayik Harutyunyan and emphasized that this is also a good phenomenon and, expressing desire to make this phenomenon continuous, preparations for the 2027 World Championship are already starting.
The President of the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF), Muhammed Jalood, in his turn noted. “What I saw during the European Championships showed that Armenia is one of the strongest countries to organize any big event, especially in weightlifting.” According to Muhammed Jalood, weightlifting is a popular sport in Armenia, and the International Weightlifting Federation, together with the Armenian Weightlifting Federation and the Government of Armenia, will organize the best championship and qualifying tournament in 2027. “This is historic, because it is the first time that Armenia will organize a world championship and qualifying tournament for the Los Angeles Olympic Games,” said the president of the International Weightlifting Federation.
Continuing Muhammed Jalood’s speech, Minister of Education, Science, Culture, Sports Zhanna Andreasyan emphasized that the World Championship to be held in Yerevan is also an Olympic qualifying tournament, which means that the strongest teams and strongest athletes will be hosted, and of course, this is an additional responsibility and a very important commitment to organize and conduct the championship at a high level.
Secretary General of the International Weightlifting Federation Antonio Urso said in his speech. “The organization of the European Championship was a great revolution in the organizational field of weightlifting, and I think it was the best European Championship in the last 10 years. It means that Armenia’s opportunities and capabilities to organize a major event are really great.” Antonio Urso emphasized that in 2027 more than 600 weightlifters will come to Armenia and more than 120 countries will be represented.
Summarizing, Arayik Harutyunyan noted that this press conference was the first event ahead of the 2027 World Championship and emphasized that in the next three years there will be many opportunities to talk about the 2027 Championship and present the works that will be done.
The Government of the Republic of Armenia