N. Korea in talks to host world weightlifting event: official

N. Korea in talks to host world weightlifting event: official

PanARMENIAN.Net - North Korea, the world’s most reclusive country and an outsider in sports for decades, is in talks with the International Weightlifting Federation to host a world championship event, the organization’s top official said, according to the New York Times.

Word of the talks comes after a string of competitive successes for North Korean weight lifters, who won a dozen medals at this year’s world championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan, which ended Sunday, Nov 16.

A day after the North Korean team left the world championships in Kazakhstan, the director general of the I.W.F., Attila Adamfi, revealed that Pyongyang had expressed an interest in inviting the world’s best lifters for a major competition.

“Although they have not made an official bid, they have expressed an interest in hosting a world championships,” Adamfi said.

He added: “It is already their most successful sport. They have the infrastructure and the sport-specific know-how. We have visited Pyongyang, and they have great facilities and a great venue that seats about 10,000. There are enormous challenges to overcome, but it could happen within five years, maybe sooner.”

Adamfi said that North Korea’s hosting the senior world championships was “not realistic” for a variety of reasons and that a competition there would more likely be a world youth or world junior championship event.

Those events attract hundreds of lifters from dozens of countries. Coaches and officials would raise the number of visitors to about 700.

North Korea has never staged a notable international championship event, but the country took a first step last year by hosting the Asian Interclubs Cup. The event was watched by the nation’s leader, Kim Jong-un, who has reportedly warmed to the sport, especially as his country has become a global contender in it.

In 2012, North Korea surprised many observers by winning three gold medals in weight lifting at the London Olympics.

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