2016 Rio Olympics: PWF to send team for qualifiers after 40 years

Eight-member squad to represent nation in Samarkand in April

KARACHI: The Pakistan Weightlifting Federation (PWF) announced that Pakistan would be sending a team for an Olympic qualifier for the first time since 1976 when an eight-member squad departs for Samarkand, Uzbekistan — which is the venue for the qualifiers for the 2016 Rio Olympics — in April next year. 

PWF vice-president Muhammad Rashed Malik revealed that the federation had never sent any athlete in the last 40 years because they did not have the requisite quality to compete with international athletes.

However, he said that the federation has been training these athletes for the last three years, which has yielded positive results at regional-level events and has increased the confidence of the federation enough to warrant sending a team for this edition of the Games.



“It will be the first time that our athletes will go for an Olympic qualifier since 1976, but we still have a long journey to even get there,” Malik told The Express Tribune. “We didn’t compete for a place in the Olympics before because our athletes lacked quality. We’ve been working for the last three years to develop weightlifters who can win us medals at the mega event and now the time has come to send a team.”

The top eight male athletes from the camp, which is currently under way in Islamabad, will be selected to represent the nation at the qualifiers.

Maximum exposure

In an attempt to keep the athletes in top shape and increase their exposure, the PWF would be sending an eight-member squad to the South Asian Games (SAG), which commence from February in India.

“We want the athletes to compete at the maximum number of events before the Olympics, and regional titles are always a boost for confidence,” added Malik.

Meanwhile, Malik also revealed that 22-year-old Muhammad Tahir, who will be making his debut at the 2015 Doha Cup on Monday, is also being considered for the Olympic qualification round.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 7^th,  2015.

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