DOHA, QATAR - After 100 years, the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) is looking forward to a brighter future.

The 2005 Centennial World Weightlifting championships wrapped up in Doha, Qatar today, with the men's 105+ kilogram class.

When it was all finished, dozens of junior and senior world records were set at the competition and China once again established itself as the sport's powerhouse.

As successful as the the past two weeks were, the IWF is hoping the next 100 years can only get better.

IWF President, Dr. Thomas Ajan, outlined his goals for the next Olympic cycle when he sat down with the media this morning.

Number one is to increase the communication, he stated. 'I am not satisfied with how the communication has been. We need your help. The number of spectators depends very much on what (the media) does in the future.'

Ajan said the IWF would also like to increase their marketing campaign, starting with the prize money offered to the top three lifters in each category.

At these championships, the Qatar Weightlifting Federation has been giving out hefty cheques to the winners and while Ajan said it will be hard to find other countries that can afford it as much as Qatar, the IWF is 'studying very closely how we can keep the prize money program in the future.'

That will mean finding more sponsors.

Ajan was also quick to point out the IWF will be continuing what he called strong efforts against drug use in weightlifting.

'I will never stand by an athlete who uses performance-enhancing drugs,' he said. 'Regardless of whether it's Hungary (where he's from), Canada, Russia, China...never. My goal is to make a clean situation in weightlifting as much as possible.

'I can tell you the facts. We (IWF) are the number one, most doping control in the world. Weightlifting is not a very infected sport, as they say. We're very proud we've pushed down on this so much.'

The Doha championships were exciting in large part because so many world records were set .

Never before have so many records been hit just one year after the Olympics.

A big reason for that many records was the introduction of the new one kilo rule, which allows competitors to up their lift weight by increments of one kilogram, rather than 2.5 kg.

'It's making better, more colourful competition,' agreed Ajan. 'You have seen how exciting the competition is now.'

Records aside, the world championships should draw even more attention from now on, after a big announcement was made this week.

Both the 2006 and 2007 worlds will be qualifiers for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, plus the continental championships that same year.

Previously, athletes could only qualify at the one world championship prior to the Games.

And in the years after 2008, all three world championships between Olympics will count as qualifiers.

'The changes give more possibilities for competitors,' said Ajan. 'If we have just one championship as a qualifier, it makes for a really nervous situation. In Vancouver (at the 2003 worlds), we had too many injuries because people were fighting so hard for places (at the Olympics).

'(Also), if we have more competitions as qualifiers, it's help for national federations financially. They receive money for participating in qualifying events.'

As for as which countries he sees dominating the medal count in the future, Ajan said while he hopes more continents will jump up the rankings, he expects Europe and Asia will still be the ones fighting for gold.

But, he pointed out, there was a medal for Oceania in Doha, which is a good sign that weightlifting is starting to spread all over the world.

Canada is one of the places which hasn't typically been strong in the sport over the years, but Ajan said the Vancouver championships played a key role in starting to turn that around.

And the 2008 junior world championships in Whitehorse will also be huge, he said.

'(Canada) had a very good championship in Vancouver and now you need to do something again in Whitehorse. Whitehorse is not a big town, but it's a very special place. And if you organize it correctly, it could also benefit the tourism very much.'

Ajan met with Yukon's Tamara Goeppel, the chief executive officer of the 2008 event, in Doha, as well as Moira Lassen, the secretary general of the Canadian Weightlifting Federation who is also organizing 2008.

'It was very encouraging to hear his words of advice,' said Goeppel. 'He's quite excited about the level we want to go with for the weightlifting championships and our marketing to date. He's promised to help us basically when we need any type of support.'

Goeppel said her trip to Doha was 'absolutely' worth it.

By watching first hand as organizers put on a world event, she learned both what to do and what not to do.

'I have complete faith we will make each athlete feel valued and welcome. I know my community and I know they will get behind this.'

Goeppel said she was impressed by the technology at the event, pointing to the timing and screening done at the competition venue. But as for the venue itself, she knows the Canada Games centre can top it.

'(And) we really want to encourage the host society to create a meeting place. There's lots of time off for the athletes and I've noticed there's no place for athletes to meet here.'

The excitement of the competition the past 10 days also has Goeppel looking forward to 2008, even though she knows the senior worlds are somewhat different than the juniors will be.

'That first men's competition I saw (the 62 kg class) was stunning. Having never seen this level of competition before ... I thought it was all dynamite. It was one heck of a way to sample my first competition.'