Dates & Locations for the Biggest Weightlifting Meets in 2026

October 31, 2025

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We now have dates and locations for all of the major weightlifting meets happening next year. The Weightlifting House team is already hard at work figuring out how to direct our efforts and resources throughout 2026 to provide the most comprehensive coverage.

But for you, it’s about knowing when to clear your schedule and tune in to WLHOUSE TV to catch all the action.

There are more high-profile events than usual in 2026; here are some of the ones we’re most excited about. For the full spread, check out the IWF calendar.

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Asians Europeans Pan-Ams Worlds Elsewhere

2026 IWF Calendar: Major Weightlifting Meets

Asian Championships

Where: Ahmedabad, India
When: April 1 - 10

Asians '26 will be the first major international competition of the calendar year. Competitors from the world's most dominant region—China, North Korea, Uzbekistan, Iran—collide in Ahmedabad.

Check out last year's results here.

European Championships

Where: Batumi, Georgia
When: April 19 - 26

Weightlifting superstars like Karlos Nasar, Mihaela Cambei, and Solfrid Koanda are among the athletes who regularly make Europeans their first international stop of the year.

Get last year's results here.

Oceania All-Age Champs + IWF World Cup

Where: Apia, Samoa
When: April 27 - May 2

The capital city of Samoa will host the Youth, Junior, and Senior Oceania Champs in '26, alongside an IWF World Cup event. The last Cup, three months prior to Paris, was the most exhilarating weightlifting meet of the quad—can this one compare?

We've got results from last year's Senior Oceania Champs here, and Youth & Junior Champs here.

Garance Rigaud at a Weightlifting Meet in 2025

Junior World Championships

Where: Ismailia, Egypt
When: May 2 - 8

After hosting a combined event in 2025, Youth and Junior Worlds will once again be split up in 2026.

Find Youth & Junior results from 2025 here.

Pan-American Championships

Where: Isla Margarita, Venezuela
When: May 7 - 14

"Margarita Island" is a tourist destination in Venezuela featuring more than 70 beaches—and, in 2026, hundreds of the best weightlifters in the Pan-American region.

We've got Junior Pan-Am results from last year here, and the Senior Champs results here.

Youth World Championships

Where: Bogota, Colombia
When: June 22 - 28

Youth Worlds, hosted for young competitors between ages 13 and 17, is a glimpse into the future; a look at the sport's prospects in the coming years.

Find Youth & Junior results from 2025 here.

Yenny Alvarez Caicedo at a Weightlifting Meet in 2023

Commonwealth Games

Where: Glasgow, Scotland
When: July 26 - 30

The Commonwealth Games invite athletes from over 70 countries—from the UK to Singapore, Malaysia to Ghana, and many more.

Weightlifters like Emily Campbell (GBR), Maude Charron (CAN), and Eileen Cikamatana (AUS) have publicly signaled the Games as their main priority, even throughout 2025.

Mediterranean Games

Where: Taranto, Italy
When: August 31 - September 2

The 20th Mediterranean Games will be a smaller event for weightlifting than most others in 2026.

Still, some regional weightlifting powerhouses are eligible to send athletes; Italy, Egypt, and Turkey, among others.

South American Games

Where: Santa Fe, Argentina
When: September 13 - 17

15 countries are expected to show up for their regional Games. If you're a fan of Pan-American weightlifting, look forward to seeing competitors from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.

Giulia Miserendino at a Weightlifting Meet in 2023

Asian Games

Where: Aichi-Nagoya, Japan
When: September 19 - October 4

Aichi-Nagoya is the fourth-largest city in Japan. The Asian Games serve as more than a celebration of international sport—countries like China and the People's Republic of Korea view multi-country athletic events as a demonstration of geopolitical power.

What does that mean for weightlifting? World records, and a lot of them.

World Championships

Where: Ningbo, China
When: October 28 - November 9

The WLHOUSE team will bring as much manpower and resources as possible to the 2026 World Champs where Team China, stretched thin from the Asian Games weeks prior, has a lot to prove.

The most dominant weightlifting team of the 21st century won't want to give an inch of ground to any other country on their home turf. But can they rebuke North Korea?

We'll find out. Check out last year's results here.

Youth Olympic Games

Where: October 31 - November 13
When: Dakar, Senegal

Senegal's capital city will host the Youth Olympics with partial overlap of the World Champs.

Weightlifting is included as one of 10 sports on the "engagement programme"—athletics which will receive additional local promotion and be "showcased through various activities on the ground in Dakar," according to the IOC.