Alberto Miglietta succeeds Antonio Urso at the helm of the Italian Federation

Alberto Miglietta is the new President of the Italian Weightlifting Federation (FIPE), after the electoral assembly held this weekend in Rome (ITA). Mr Miglietta was chosen with 99.68% of favourable votes from the delegates and succeeds Antonio Urso in the leadership of the Italian national body. Mr Urso, also the IWF General Secretary, was at the helm of his country’s Federation since 2005 and had the opportunity to celebrate the successes of the Italian lifters during a show held on the evening preceding the elections.

Alberto Miglietta, the new President of the Italian Weightlifting Federation

“It is with great satisfaction that I take this task – to represent at the highest level the Italian weightlifting family. In the last months, I have extensively been in contact with this community and I could fine tune my priorities and my project to drive our federation into an even brighter future,” declared Mr Miglietta after his election. “The FIPE has immensely evolved in terms of technical results, but I want to reinforce the work in terms of grassroots and promotion,” also considered the new President.

Antonio Urso, FIPE President from 2005 to 2024

Before stepping down from the presidency, Mr Urso was the protagonist of a concert, gathering many of his friends, not only from the sports movement, but also from his professional background in the national police. Notable was the presence of the two Italian IOC members in the ceremony: Giovanni Malagò, President of the Italian Olympic Committee, and Ivo Ferriani. From the IWF sphere, Antonio Conflitti, President of the European Weightlifting Federation and member of the IWF Executive Board, was also among the guests. Nino Pizzolato, bronze medallist at the recent Paris 2024 Olympic Games, joined the celebratory evening as well.

Antonio Urso on the stage

Himself also a musician (he is the author of the IWF anthem, approved at the beginning of the year), Mr Urso offered this illustrious audience a two-hour show, playing and performing songs that somehow illustrated his trajectory.

“I came here to express my recognition, from the bottom of my heart, to a great man, and a leader who did a lot for the Italian sport and of course for Italian weightlifting. But I had no idea that I would also discover a real showman! This is unmatched in the history of our sports leaders! Thank you so much for this amazing performance!” confessed Mr Malagò.

Giovanni Malagò, Antonio Urso and Ivo Ferriani, at the end of the two-hour show

An emotive Antonio Urso reflected on those 20 years leading the sport in Italy: “In life, what has a beginning has also an end. This is the end of this chapter for me, but what a road it was! I leave the FIPE proud and happy, as I think I brought humanity to this Federation. We care about the athletes, their challenges, their career evolution…”

“The most important thing in life is to meet other people and open new horizons and worlds with them. This is what we did for these 20 years. I met a lot of wonderful people and I am so happy to say that with all of them we built really nice projects!” concluded Mr Urso.

Antonio Urso and Nino Pizzolato

A nice tribute also came from Nino Pizzolato. “Everything we do in life, we must do it with the heart. Only like that can we win. Antonio Urso operated a true revolution in the sport, always working with a convincing team spirit. Alone, even if our sport is an individual one, we cannot succeed – that is the main heritage of the successful 20 years of Antonio Urso in the leadership of our Federation,” considered the Italian star.

IWF Communications