The European Weightlifting Federation -EWF- will hold its 2026 Youth Training Camp in Macolin, Switzerland, from 12 to 19 July, in an edition open to all its national federations and with a maximum quota of 20 boys, 20 girls and 20 coaches. The EWF also set 15 May 2026 as the deadline to confirm participation and expressly thanked the Swiss Weightlifting Federation for the opportunity to stage the activity at a top-level preparation facility.

The announcement goes beyond simply confirming a host venue. It also places the camp in a very specific setting within Swiss sport, because Macolin-Magglingen is linked to the Swiss Federal Institute of Sport Magglingen -SFISM-, the only Swiss higher education institution devoted exclusively to sport. The centre itself explains that its work combines education, research, development and services, and that a core part of its activity is aimed at youth and elite sport, as well as support for national federations.

Macolin, a venue closely linked to high-performance sport in Switzerland

That setting helps explain why the EWF presents the choice of Macolin as a particularly valuable opportunity for young European weightlifters. The centre’s sporting ecosystem includes performance-support services such as sports medicine, nutrition, psychology, physiology, biomechanics and applied technology, while also including weightlifting among its disciplines. That profile makes the Swiss venue more than just a training base and moves it closer to a full preparation environment.

The choice of Switzerland also fits the camp’s international projection. The EWF refers to a “world-class” preparation facility, while the SFISM presents itself as a national reference point for the development of grassroots and elite sport. The result is a favourable combination for an activity designed precisely to bring together young athletes from different countries, share technical work and offer a common experience in a high-level environment.

A programme that EWF has already turned into a stable line of work

The 2026 edition also does not appear as an isolated initiative. In January 2025, when it opened the invitation to host that year’s youth camps, the EWF described the programme as a “good practice” that had continued to develop in recent years. In that same communication, it identified the previous host cities: Split in 2022, Konya in 2023 and Ventspils in 2024, a sequence that shows the camp as an established line within the European federation’s training activity.

That continuity can also be seen in the review of the Konya 2023 camp, which the EWF itself presented as an especially well-received experience for young athletes and coaches from across Europe. The federation said at the time that the activity had drawn very positive feedback and highlighted its value both on the technical side and in the coexistence between participants from different federations, a precedent that gives further context to the upcoming meeting in Macolin.

A limited call for athletes and coaches from across Europe

The 2026 invitation also keeps a very defined format. The EWF call is addressed to all its national federations, but with a total limit of 20 boys, 20 girls and 20 coaches, a restriction that makes the camp a selective and manageable activity in day-to-day working terms. The federation has indicated that further information will be published soon on the website of the Swiss Weightlifting Federation, together with documentation relating to regulations, schedule and participation.

On that basis, the Macolin 2026 edition brings together three elements that help explain its relevance: a venue closely tied to Swiss high-performance sport, a format that the EWF has already repeated in several countries in recent years, and a clear focus on the development of young European weightlifters. The camp will also take place in the middle of the summer, in a format that combines technical work, international exchange and access to a top-level sporting environment.