North Korea declines to compete in World Weightlifting Championship in US

Baku. 4 November. REPORT. AZ/ The North Korean national weightlifting team refused to attend the World Weightlifting Championship that will take place in Anaheim, California, US, November 28.

Report informs referring to the Inside the Games, North Korean weightlifting Federation did not explain the boycott decision to International Weightlifting Federation (IWF).

It is thought that the political tension between US and DPRK is the reason for such decision.

Because of the tension situation on Korean peninsula North Korea lost the right to host 2018 IWF Junior World Championship and it was awarded instead to Uzbekistan last month.

North Korea is one of the leaders in weightlifting than in any other sport in recent years, with five gold medals in the past three Olympic Games, plus a number of world champions and world record-breakers.

Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, China, Moldova, Turkey, Bulgaria, Ukraine and Azerbaijan will not join the championship in the USA. These countries have been banned for a year for multiple doping offences.