His presentation covered areas such as sports management, administration, promotion, management of economic resources, prevention and education in the fight against doping and sexual harassment.

There was a strong interactive response from his audience.

Around 20 coaches, technical officials and administrators had submitted questions and answers, working on areas such as good governance, anti-doping, protection of athletes, emergence and support of women’s weightlifting, recruitment and development of athletes, and specific issues in Bolivia related to Government funding and how the federation might be successful in the face of those challenges.

During the course of the seminar, the participants attended the Bolivian National Championships, which featured promising local athletes.

“Thank you to the IWF and Bolivian Weightlifting Federation for the opportunity to assist to develop the sport in the region,” Andrews said.

“There are some clear signs of hope for development of weightlifting in the nation of Bolivia.

 There are some growing teams, emerging coaches and a willingness to change the way of thinking in the face of funding challenges.

“It’s clear that there is a desire and sporting ability for Bolivia to rise in the rankings as a nation.”