#ICYMI: Weightlifting Fed in Flux; World Sailing; Moscow 1980 Boycott

#ICYMI -- In Case You Missed It ... Sometimes the best stories don't get the attention we think they deserve. Here are our staff picks for articles this week they really want you to know about..

Weightlifting Fed Described as Big Mess

(ATR) The International Weightlifting Federation will soon begin the process of finding a new president following the resignation of Tamas Ajan.

A source on the IWF executive which spent hours meeting this week by teleconference, tells ATR that the federation faces "a big mess" in cleaning up after Ajan's departure.

Ajan, 81, spent 43 years at the federation, first as secretary general and since 2000 as president. He served ten years on the IOC, stepping down under the age 70 retirement rule.

He was ordered to temporarily relinquish the presidency on January 22 for 90 days while the IWF launched an independent inquiry into issues raised in a documentary by German TV channel ARD. Ajan is accused of diverting funds for the federation into personal bank accounts. He denies the accusations.

Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren and his firm, Global Sport Solutions, were hired in late January to investigate a range of issues the documentary brought forth against the IWF tied to finance, governance and doping control.

Around the Rings is told that McLaren’s initial report will be presented on Monday with a final report expected in June. Originally planned to be completed by now, restrictions on travel due to the corona virus have forced delay on the timetable.

For the rest of the story, click here.

ATRadio: World Sailing President Kim Andersen

(ATR) The sport of sailing is among the 33 on the program for the Tokyo Olympics now dealing with the postponement of the Games until 2021.

At the same time, the source of the delay, the corona pandemic, is affecting the calendar this year and presenting daily challenges.

World Sailing president Kim Andersen explains how the federation is responding in this ATRadio with Around the Rings editor Ed Hula.

ATRadio: Moscow Olympic Boycott, 40 Years Ago

(ATR) The 1980 U.S. boycott of the Moscow Olympics took shape 40 years ago this week. On April 12, 1980 at a raucous meeting in Colorado Springs attended by hundreds of delegates, the U.S. Olympic Committee voted to stay home from the Moscow Olympics.

President Jimmy Carter had called for the boycott as punishment for the December 1979 invasion of Afghanistan by the Soviet Union. While initiating the demand for a boycott, the president could not enforce it.

The decision belonged to the USOC,which gathered at the Antlers Hotel in Colorado Springs where the USOC had moved its headquarters from New York City two years before.

In this edition of ATRadio with Ed Hula , two individuals closely involved in the struggle over the boycott remember that moment of Olympic history.

Anita DeFrantz, now a senior member of the IOC, was a new lawyer and had won a bronze medal in rowing at the 1976 Olympics. DeFrantz was one of the protagonists trying to block the U.S. boycott.

Mike Moran was the media director for the USOC, a post he held for two decades more before retiring in Colorado Springs.