Hele Johage, who heads Sweden’s weightlifting federation, said she was shocked by the choice of Moscow. “I am shocked. I think this is particularly concerning. The war is still ongoing in Ukraine, it has not ended.”
The International Weightlifting Federation announced at an Executive Board meeting on Sunday that Moscow will stage the 2030 World Weightlifting Championships. It is the first time an Olympic federation has awarded a global event to Russia since the country’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in 2022.
The decision gives Moscow a competition that will also act as a qualifying event for the 2032 Olympic Games in Brisbane, Australia. The city last hosted the World Weightlifting Championships in 1983.
Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, called the decision “unacceptable” and “immoral”. Matvii Bidnyi, Ukraine’s minister for youth and sports, said Ukrainian athletes would boycott the championships if they took place in Moscow. He also said Ukraine would send official letters to the IWF and the International Olympic Committee demanding a new, transparent process for awarding world championship hosting rights.
Ukraine has also appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, seeking to have the IOC’s decision to lift its suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee annulled.
Modestas Šimkus, the general secretary of Lithuania’s weightlifting federation, said the decision had shocked him rather than surprised him. He said it reflected Lithuania’s categorical opposition to Russian and Belarusian participation in international competitions.
The award follows a gradual loosening of sporting restrictions imposed after the invasion. The IOC had suspended the Russian Olympic Committee and international federations had removed Russian hosting rights. The 2025 World Aquatics Championships, originally awarded to Kazan, were moved to Singapore.
In July, the IOC provisionally lifted its suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee. In July 2026, it also allowed international federations to decide whether to stage tournaments in Russia. The IOC said it would continue to “not organize IOC events in Russia or invite Russian government or state officials to its events”.
Four months before Sunday’s announcement, the IWF said Russian athletes could again compete at its events, with restrictions on national flags and anthems lifted. Some Russian competitors had previously appeared as neutrals at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games and the Winter Olympics in Milan.
Other federations have eased their own restrictions. World Gymnastics did so in May, World Archery said in August that its Executive Board had removed all remaining restrictions, and the European Fencing Confederation formally reinstated Russian and Belarusian competitors in June.
No world championships in either a summer or winter Olympic sport have been held in Russia since the war in Ukraine began. The Russian Weightlifting Federation described itself as “the first Olympic sports federation to succeed in bringing a top-level official competition back to the country in many years”.
Aleksandr Vinokurov, the federation’s president, said: “Russia has all the necessary experience and capabilities to host competitions of the highest level”. He added that “Moscow has repeatedly staged major international sporting events and has modern infrastructure”.
José Quiñones, the IWF general secretary, said: “All the bids we received were excellent and we are sure that the Championships in your respective countries will be a huge success”.
The dispute comes while Ukrainian athletes remain in the IWF calendar. Five are listed for the 2026 IWF World Championships in Ningbo, China, scheduled from 27 October to 8 November.
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