Urban weightlifting had its latest outing in Havana, Cuba, at the weekend where José Quiñones, President of the Pan American Weightlifting Federation (PAWF), said it could feature on the Youth Olympic Games programme in the future.

Next up from July 7 to 9 is a second Swiss street weightlifting event in Lausanne, which hosted the inaugural version of this format in April last year for mixed gender teams.

There will be referees but no jury, two lifts rather than three in the early stages, and then knockout head-to-head contests.

Kingston, Jamaica will host an eight-team event, JSW 2023, in August which will be the biggest of its kind to date and is supported by Jamaica's Tourist Board as well as sporting authorities.

A multinational team from Africa may be among the eight.

The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF), whose Board discussed new formats at a two-day meeting here in Havana at the weekend, is backing both those competitions.

In October the mixed team format will be used at the EWF Cup at Olympia, where athletes will be able to win prize money of $3,000 (£2,388/€2,778) to $5,500 (£4,378/€5,092) thanks to support from the European Weightlifting Federation (EWF) for in its most innovative competition.

"What more could we want than to launch a new project in the cradle of Olympism?" said EWF President Antonio Conflitti, who wants the EWF Cup to be "more dynamic, more of a show".

Conflitti consulted with the IWF Athletes' Commission and other popular weightlifters, national team coaches, its own Technical Committee and National Federation Presidents before the EWF finalised its plans.

Future EWF Cups will also be outdoors on beaches, in famous squares, or near to important monuments.

Forrester Osei, the Athletes' Commission chair who took part in a street event in Bahrain in March and who has also sent a message of support to the organisers in Lausanne, said, "It’s good to see all these urban competitions happening.

"It shows that the IWF and continental federations are committed to innovation within the sport. 

"We can show the Olympic movement that we are allowing weightlifting to grow rather than just stick to the old ways, and that is a cause for optimism.

"The Athletes' Commission is collectively in favour of all these events."

Osei, who is entered for Ghana in the IWF Grand Prix here in Havana, also said the IWF was hopeful of sending a team from Africa to the Jamaica competition.

Quiñones, a keen supporter of street weightlifting from the outset, said low-cost outdoor events provide a great opportunity to promote the sport.

"What we have to look for is not only to stay in the Olympic Games programme, but to innovate, attract more people, go out to the streets and make weightlifting an urban sport," he said.

Urban weightlifting "can be a format for the Youth Olympic Games", he said.

"You don't need an indoor gym to practise our sport. 

"We need an economic format to be more inclusive, within everyone's reach."

When street weightlifting started in Switzerland in April last year, the aim was to create a brand like 3x3 basketball, said its creator Jean-Marc Exhenry. 

He wanted "to introduce, alongside traditional weightlifting, a new, younger, dynamic, fast and attractive discipline geared towards young people in their environment, the street".

Several athletes who will represent Cuba at the upcoming Central American and Caribbean Games took part in the event on Havana’s seafront on Sunday.

The JSW2023 event from August 11-13, like the Lausanne competition, will be used to promote environmental awareness among young people. 

The stated aim in Jamaica’s presentation document to the IWF Board is "to deliver, for both athletes and spectators, an exceptional sporting and socio-cultural experience".

It will be staged at Emancipation Park in Kingston, where guest federations from Jamaican skateboarding and gymnastics will also feature in the activities.

Group stages will be followed by knockout final rounds, and scoring across all body weights at the outdoor events will be based on Robi points.