Two AIN lifters moved straight into the top 10 of the Paris 2024 rankings, Petr Asayonak and Yauheni Tsikhantsou at 89 and 102 kilograms respectively, while others have made it into the top 20.

This was their first international competition since December 2021.

"We are back home, back in the family... I can’t describe how good it feels," said Vitaliy Kreidich, vice-president of the Belarus Weightlifting Federation and part of the team managing 13 lifters, eight men and five women, in Cuba’s capital.

Mohamed Jalood, the IWF President, said, "We saw here that weightlifting is a sport for all. 

"The team respected the conditions they signed up to, they came as neutrals and everybody respected them on the platform, on the podium, everywhere."

The situation on their home continent is different.

The European Weightlifting Federation, fearing boycotts, will not allow neutral athletes from Belarus to compete at their Youth and Junior Championships in Moldova and Romania in July.

Kreidich said, "It has been very good here in Cuba, good organisation, accommodation, training facilities.

“All the teams have been happy to see us, we were welcomed back on to the platform.

"There were no bad vibes, no pressure, everything seemed ideal."

Four of the 13 were winners and three made it into the top five of their respective "best individual" lists - Tsikhantsou and Asayonak for totals of 390kg and 368kg at 102kg and 89kg, plus Siuzanna Valodzka for her 242kg total at 71kg.

"It is too early to say who did what in terms of Olympic qualifying here, because there are still four competitions to come," said Kreidich.

"We trained well, but we can do better."

Belarus will have a chance to repay Cuba for its hospitality and will not have to compete in grey in August when it hosts the multi-sport Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Games for former Soviet states and others.

Cuba will be there, one of 10 nations in weightlifting and one of 20 across a range of sports, said Kreidich.

Jorge Luis Barcelan, President of the Cuban Weightlifting Federation, revealed his team will stay in Belarus for a training camp after the CIS Games before travelling on to Saudi Arabia for the IWF World Championships in September.

The Havana Grand Prix was the last chance for weightlifters from Russia and Belarus to enter Olympic qualifying as neutral individuals.

Russia declined because they did not agree with the “unacceptable” conditions imposed by the IWF, which was following recommendations drawn up by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) after it suspended both nations because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

"Our President [Aleksandr Lukashenko] was not happy that there was no flag, no anthem, no national uniform but he agreed to the conditions because he understands how hard it is for athletes when they cannot compete," said Kreidich.

Everybody in the AIN team is forbidden from making "any statement or behaviour of any nature, which may be interpreted as a support to the war."

They had to wear uniforms "in one tone in solid grey colour, without designs, patterns or any national emblems."

Sourcing a completely new outfit for the team was not easy.

By the time Kreidich had sourced the material everything was a rush.

He had to drive to a national clothing factory 500 kilometres from Minsk, the capital, and arrived after midnight.

Everything was finally ready at 5pm the day before departure for Cuba.

Since the start of last year Belarus had competed only within its own borders, where it usually has eight events every year, or in Russia.

Kreidich did not want to talk about the suspension or its possible effect on athletes.

"I don’t want to remember that we are banned," he said.

Kreidich claimed the strong state support for weightlifting, in a country that "puts a lot of emphasis on sport" has allowed the team members to continue to train full-time.

Its National Youth Championships were held from June 5-10 while the top seniors were in Cuba.

“From youth training halls up to the national Olympic centre [Stayki] we have about 60 training centres for weightlifting across Belarus, for all ages,” Kreidich said.

Stayki, a huge multi-sport training centre that has been completely revamped since it was used in the days of the Soviet Union, has hosted training camps for Russia, China, Iraq and a number of African nations.

“The Russians could not believe the quality of the facilities,” said Kreidich.

The men have been strong for many years in Belarus, where weightlifting has a long history, and more recently there has been a focus on developing the women’s team.

The average age of the five women in Cuba was just under 21, compared with 24.5 for the men.

"We have a good mix in our team who are trying for the Olympic Games - young athletes with potential, and older, experienced athletes," said Kreidich.

Dziyana Maiseyevich, a newcomer to the senior national team, was a winner at 64kg here.

There was a low-key finish when Eduard Ziaziulin had to withdraw after one good lift in the men’s super-heavyweights because of a back injury, but he hopes to be fit for the World Championships in September.

Tsikhantsou was one of the two Belarus athletes to lift in Tokyo, where their quota was cut because of past doping offences. 

Tsikhantsou was injured and did not make a total in Tokyo 2020.

President Lukashenko’s son Viktor is President of the National Olympic Committee of the Republic of Belarus (NOCRB).

Both men were personally banned by the IOC from Tokyo 2020 after Viktor Lukashenko had been made NOCRB President in succession to his father in a process not recognised by the IOC.

The ban on father and son was imposed after athletes who criticised the country’s leadership had been imprisoned or denied facilities to train.

The IOC ruled that the NOCRB "had not appropriately protected the Belarusian athletes from political discrimination within the NOC, their member sports federations or the sports movement."

A Belarus sprinter, Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, defected during the Olympics in the Japanese capital and is now a Polish citizen.