VOLUME 2 NO. 4

JULY - SEPTEMBER 2004

A Publication of the Canadian Amateur Tug-of-War Association

2004 TWIF CONGRESS HELD IN CENTO, ITALY


CENTO, ITALY - April 24, 2004

      On April 23rd and 24th the TWIF Congress was held in Cento, Italy. Cento is the host town of the 2005 European Championships.  Canada's newly elected International Representative, Matthias Metzger attended the meeting and reports on the major items covered at the sessions.

       This year was a record in attendance for the congress as 20 member 


City Centre, Cento, Italy
[Click on image for enlargement]

countries were present (Belgium, Canada, China, Chinese Taipei, England, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Scotland, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, USA, and Wales)  

WADA DIRECTOR SPEAKS TO TWIF CONGRESS

      The Director of WADA (World Anti Doping Agency) Tom Dielen was the speaker on Friday morning.  TWIF has adopted the WADA Rules and currently the TWIF Anti Doping Rules are being reviewed by WADA and they will be mailed to all member countries this summer.  Some of Tom’s topics were Therapeutic Use Exemptions and Whereabouts of Athletes.  More about WADA can be found at www.wada-ama.org 

PRETORIA TO HOST 2010 WORLD OUTDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS

      On the Friday afternoon, the countries tendering for the 2010 World Championships had a chance to give a presentation on their venue. Switzerland, South Africa and the USA, all delivered a very detailed presentation on their venues.

The Mayor of Cento Welcomes TWIF Delegates

      Appenzell, Switzerland and Rochester, USA did not receive enough votes to host the 2010 event, therefore these championships will go to Pretoria, South Africa.

      The 2010 World Indoor Championships will also be in South Africa at Cape Town.

      Later in the afternoon a tour of the venue and facilities of the 2005 European Championships in Cento was on the agenda.

TWIF MAKES CHANGES TO DIVISION CLASSIFICATIONS

      On Saturday, many proposals regarding the junior categories were on the agenda, many of them were withdrawn after the first proposal was voted on. 

Starting in 2005 the following rules will apply for both, male and female pullers.

  1. Junior category
          A puller is eligible to participate in the Junior category from the beginning of the year in which the puller reaches the age of 15 years until the end of the year in which the puller reaches the age of 17 years.

  2. Under 23
          A puller is eligible to participate in the Under 23 category from the beginning of the year in which the puller reaches the age of 18 years until the end of the year in which the puller reaches the age of 22 years.

  3. Senior      A puller is eligible to participate in the Senior category from the beginning of the year in which the puller reaches the age of 18 years.

        The weight classes for male juniors will be 560 kg and for Under 23 the weight will be 600 kg.

NEW SCHEDULE ESTABLISHED FOR EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS

      In the future a separate World Championship event will be held for Juniors and Under 23.  These Championships will be held on the Wednesday before every European Championship.

      TWIF is currently talking to the organizers of the 2005 European Championships and if they can add one additional day of competition, 2005 will see the first Junior and Under 23 World Championships in Cento, Italy.

NEW MEMBERS JOIN FEDERATION

      The countries Greece, Mongolia, Iran and Nigeria received full member status, bringing the total member countries affiliated with TWIF to 34.

 

 - by Matthias Metzger
   International Representative for Canada
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Editor: M. L. Monteith
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Last modified: December 05, 2004