Boy oh boy…Olympic weightlifting is in a very shaky time period right now. Our sport is one step away from having the word “Olympic” removed from its name. We’re on the verge of disaster, and nobody has fought harder to keep it all from happening than Ursula Garza Papandrea.
 
I guess I need to make sure you all understand what I’m talking about, so here’s the quick breakdown (many of you already know a lot of this). Over the last few years, the massive corruption of the International Weightlifting Federation has been publicly exposed. Rampant doping, criminal financial practices, protecting/enabling countries with highly coordinated drug systems, etc. The IWF is a cesspool of dirty business, and has been for decades.
 
The International Olympic Committee finally gave weightlifting an ultimatum: clean up your act, or you’re out of the Olympics. This obviously called for a change in leadership, since asking longtime IWF President Tamas Ajan to clean up the sport is like asking a fox to watch the hen house. So Ursula Garza Papandrea, a well-established and respected political figure in USA Weightlifting, was appointed the new IWF President, with the intention of reforming the sport and cleaning up the mess before the IOC chops our heads off.
 
To make a long story short, Ursula put a plan in place to reform the IWF, and the IWF Executive Board (which is comprised of corrupt officials who don’t want to clean up the sport) voted her out and removed her from office.
 
And now, here we are. The IOC is continuing to publicly threaten to remove weightlifting from the Olympics because of this problem, and the IWF continues to make horrific public decisions that drive more nails into our coffin. It’s a very, very scary situation.
 
Ursula tried to fix it, and she’s still trying. Most of you know her as one of the central administrative figures in international weightlifting. I know her as a dear friend of almost thirty years. We were weightlifters together on the national scene back in the 90s, we’ve coached in countless warmup rooms together, etc. We’re part of the same weightlifting generation, and I wanted to give her a chance to speak out in this interview because I’ve taken the IWF’s betrayal of her personally. Aside from the fact that she was railroaded while trying to save our sport, I also see this through the lens of one of my friends got screwed over.
 
She’s still fighting to regain her position in the IWF, so she’s obviously going to choose her comments carefully in this interview. When I asked her to do this, I said, “I know you won’t tell us everything, so just say however much you’re cool with.” The Performance Menu is proud to share some of her story with you.
 
For our readers who aren’t familiar with your background in the sport, give us the basics of your history in weightlifting as an athlete and coach. How did you start? Who were your coaches? Favorite moments and accomplishments?
I started lifting weights in 1984 and in 1987, at the University of Texas, I was first introduced to weightlifting. I competed until 2000. I won some national titles and qualified for world teams from 1992-1996. As a coach, I started in 1992 with one athlete and have been going since. In 2014, my men's team became the team champions at the USA Senior National Championships. 
 
Describe your transition into the administrative/political side of the sport. How did it happen? Which positions have you held in weightlifting?
 
Robin Byrd nominated me, so throughout the 2000s, I served as an athlete’s rep on a couple of committees in USAW and then ran for the Board of Directors in 2009 as USAW had started a period of reform. I had been encouraged by one of my mentors on the political side, Artie Drescher. Then, due to some issues on the Board of Directors, I became USAW President in 2016. In 2017 and 2019, I was reelected as president. I served on the Board of Directors from 2009-2020, stepping down voluntarily a year early to focus on the IWF and also ensure a smooth transition in leadership for USAW. In 2017, I was elected to the IWF Executive Board as the first female vice-president and was then appointed in January 2020 as Acting President, and then Interim President in April 2020. I was removed as Interim President of IWF and returned to my position of vice-president in October 2020. There was building tension with the IWF board on reform and my position was aligned with the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Due to the IWF Executive Board’s blatant disregard of IOC advice, I decided it was best to step down as vice-president. 
 
The IOC is making threats about throwing weightlifting out of the Olympics. What are your thoughts about that? We know you can’t predict the future, but how serious do you think the situation is? And what could be done to keep our Olympic status?
 
I think the threats are as real as they have ever been. The IWF Executive Board’s inside view is that the IOC would never do it. There have been several board decisions directly contrary to IOC advice. If our history is not enough to get us removed, certainly a board without Tamas Ajan's leadership, taking steps that look like more of the same, may be. The only saving grace would have been to follow a straight reform path. Neither the political operations within the IWF nor the members themselves have allowed this straight path of reform. The view has been that as long as the board "says we will reform," then we don't actually have to reform. This was the resistance I encountered. It has now become clear that the board members believe their political connections will keep the IWF safe. In my opinion, the IWF will die a quick or slow death on the current path. The IOC’s reduction of weightlifting’s quota of Olympic athletes from 196 to 120 in December was a clear signal. 
 
What is the single biggest problem in Olympic weightlifting?
 
That is the easiest question anyone can ask: the leaders. All of our problems can be placed in the lap of former and current leaders. The leadership is responsible for creating a culture in the sport. The culture created had been one of doping and corruption. This has come from the top and encouraged the problems to persist. 
 
What are your plans for the future? We know you’ll probably be involved in weightlifting for the rest of your life, but what do you want to do? How do you want to be remembered in the sport when it’s all over? And is there anybody you’d like to thank or acknowledge? 
 
Elections have been delayed. Politics are nasty snake pits, so not my favorite. My only goal is to make the IWF worthy of the athletes that love weightlifting. I love coaching and being an educator, which was my profession from 1994-2019. I am (still) writing a book for coaches. I think my biggest contributions have been in being on the front lines to push women and the sport forward. I have always been an advocate for athletes, and that will never change. I will always stand against the bullies that try to or are harming the sport. There are so many amazing people in the sport. My responsibility is now to try and give them a voice, both athletes and other leaders. 
 
I would like to be remembered as someone who fought for the sport when given the opportunity to make a difference and always stood up in the face of challenges.
 
And just so you all know, I included a final question in this interview that went, “Obviously, weightlifting has been through a terrible period of political turmoil over the last few years. Everybody in the sport knows that you’ve tried to lead weightlifting out of corruption. Our sport is a mess, and you’ve worked tirelessly to clean it up. But you’ve had terrible roadblocks and setbacks along the way. This has all been very public, so our readers know the news stories and headlines. Please tell us as much as you’d like about this whole saga.” 
 
Ursula’s response was “This would take up a book lol.” 
 
Some of the things she’s told me about this mess in private conversations would blow your hair back. The fight is very much still happening, so we’ll just leave it here and see what the future holds. Thanks to Ursula for sharing her time with us, and for all she’s done for weightlifting.