The event, which will be staged in the United States for the first time in 40 years, will form part of the qualification process for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

"We wanted to make sure the logo was a patriotic theme of red, white and blue and that it also incorporated stars to represent the State of Texas," Janis Burke, chief executive of Harris County - Houston Sports Authority, said.

The Championships, scheduled to take place at the George R. Brown Convention Center, will round off what looks set to be an exciting year for weightlifting.

The George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, Texas, will host the 2015 World Weightlifting Championships ©Wikipedia

Tbilisi, Georgia, will play host to the European Championships in April, which start two days after the completion of the 2015 IWF Youth World Championships in Lima, Peru.

Weightlifting is on the programme for both the Pacific Games in Papua New Guinea and the Pan-American Games in Canada, both of which take place this summer, as well as the African Games in the Republic of Congo this September.

An estimated 900 competitors from more than 188 affiliated National Federations from all five Olympic continents are expected to descend on the Texan city.

Last year's World Championships were held in Kazakh city Almaty.

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