On Saturday, March 16, 2024, the Conference Room of the Sports Center of the beautiful polish city Bydgoszcz, hosted a ceremonial and impressive Weightlifting Gala, summarizing the best weightlifting results and achievements accomplished in 2023.
Special congratulations, thanks and awards were given to European and World Championships medalists, sport clubs and National Team’s coaches, sponsors and partners of the Polish Weightlifting Federation. The special guests of the Gala were the EWF President Antonio Conflitti and the EWF Secretary General Milan Mihajlovic, who didn’t want to lose the highly appreciated opportunity to congratulate the awardees led by the president of the PWF and Vice-president of the Polish Olympic Committee, Mr. Waldemar Gospodarek.
“The Polish Federation made special efforts to celebrate its champions and all those who contributed to the successes of the Polish weightlifters last year in the most elegant way, the Gala moments being sometimes accompanied by a duet of violinists from Bydgoszcz who entertained the guests and this is perfect context to mixt sport and culture”, the EWF General Secretary said enthusiastically.
Clips with the successful attempts of the champions were played on the monitor in the hall, as a reminder of those indescribable emotions felt in the 2023 international arenas in Chisinau, Bucharest, Guadalajara and not only.
All the participants and guests were warmly welcomed by the president of the PWF, Waldemar Gospodarek, who reminded proudly the total of 67 medals won by the polish weightlifters. Gospodarek also talked about the activity and projects of the federation he leads and which will host this year’s European Junior and U23 Championships in Raszyn, between 26 October and 03 of November and the Youth and U15 continental competition next year in August, most probably in Bydgoszcz, residence town of the polish President.
At the end, the president of the European Weightlifting Federation, Antonio Conflitti, and the Secretary General, Dr. Milan Mihajlovic, received special commemorative trophies from the hands of the head of polish weightlifting governing body. Conflitti underlined the very good job done by Gospodarek nationally and internationally, mentioning about the historical importance of the Polish Federation for the entire continental weightlifting family: “Your federation, as a co-founder of the European Weightlifting Federation, is one of the strategic members of the EWF and, in the same time, home of the EWF.”
The head of the EWF presented the EWF Bronze Star to Mr. Zbigniew Gorlewski, well-known collector and expert in the history of weightlifting from all points of view, including from a statistical one. It was a special moment to reiterate the importance of the history of our sport with one of the most passionate lovers of weightlifting. A very special moment was the presentation of the first official EWF Bulletin with the official information about the establishment of the European Weightlifting Federation, about the founding Member Countries, about the first official continental competition and about the organizational structure of the European body at that time, all this as if to it also pays tribute to all those who contributed to the development of our sport on the continental level and beyond, but who are no longer among us. All this had an even greater burden, taking into account the fact that this year EWF celebrates its 55th anniversary.
FIRST OFFICIAL EWF BULLETIN CAN BE ACCESED HERE
Gospodarek conclude the speeches and award moments showing the willingness to host the Senior European Championships in 2026, but not before receiving the official T-shirt of the EWF from President Conflitti.
During the stay in Poland, the EWF officials had the opportunity to visit the sports infrastructure and facilities in Bydgoszcz, proposed city for hosting the European Championships in 2025 and upon returning to Warsaw they happily revisited the Sports Complex in Raszyn, which will host this year’s Junior and U23 competition and which the teams from all over Europe got to know in 2022 on the occasion of the Europeans reserved for the youngest athletes in Europe.
POLISH WEIGHTLIFTING GALA VIDEO
