RIYADH: The World Senior Weightlifting Championship, which begins on Sunday in Riyadh, will include more than 2,500 athletes from more than 170 nations.
At 7 o’clock in the evening, Mohammed Jaloud, the president of the International Weightlifting Federation, will preside over the opening ceremonies for the 14-day sporting competition at the Prince Faisal bin Fahd Olympic Complex in the Saudi capital.
The event is a qualifying round for the Olympics in Paris in 2024 and will last through September 17.
The 40-minute opening ceremony, which will be carried on Saudi sports channels, is anticipated to feature artistic performances by international teams, national heritage portions, folklore performances, and visual and acrobatic exhibitions.
For the first time in the history of the World Weightlifting Championships, the Austrian acrobatic team “Zurcaroh,” which finished second on “America’s Got Talent,” will perform. More than 43 artists from Brazil, Russia, Ukraine, and Switzerland will also be performing. Petterssonhora, a choreographer and artist from Brazil with more than 25 years of experience, is the group’s leader.
The preparation for the event, according to the organisers, began more than a year ago, as soon as Riyadh was selected as the host city. For the teams who will be participating, nine hotels have been chosen.
To get athletes from their lodging to the training and competition hall, which has more than 70 training platforms, twenty buses will run 16 hours a day.
The first team to arrive in Riyadh was from Kyrgyzstan last week, followed by teams from Thailand and Canada.
