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| ▲ This file photo, taken Aug. 20, 2018, shows North Korean weightlifter Om Yun-chol competing in the men's 56kg weightlifting competition at the 18th Asian Games at Jakarta International Expo in Jakarta, Indonesia. (Yonhap) |
(LEAD) N Korea-weightlifting competition
(LEAD) N. Korea skips int'l weightlifting competition in Cuba despite registration
(ATTN: CHANGES headline; UPDATES with more details throughout)
SEOUL, June 9 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has not sent its athletes to an international weightlifting competition being held in Cuba despite registering its weightlifters for the event, according to the weightlifting governing body Friday.
North Korea had registered 14 athletes for the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) Grand Prix I being held from June 8-18 in Havana, sparking speculation over the North's return to the international sports arena following years of COVID-19-related border shutdowns.
But the North's team had not arrived in Havana by Wednesday (local time), one day before the start of the competition, a qualifier for the 2024 Paris Olympics, according to the IWF website.
The North's athletes were supposed to have arrived in Cuba by Monday to participate in the competition, but they did not show up without any prior notice to the IWF or the organizer of Grand Prix I, according to the U.S.-based media outlet Radio Free Asia.
The North's weightlifters will not be able to compete in Paris, as they skipped one of five qualifying games for the Olympics.
In 2021, the International Olympic Committee suspended North Korea until the end of 2022 for its decision to skip the Tokyo Olympics due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The North's registration for the Cuba competition raised expectations that the secretive regime may reopen its border with China and permit cross-border movements of people soon.
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