The 2023 USA Powerlifting Masters World Cup registration

All Masters athletes who have competed in drug tested powerlifting competitions are formally invited to enter and compete in this inaugural event.

The two-day event will host the top Masters powerlifting athletes from around the world. To qualify for this World Cup:

• Must be in the Masters age category as of 2023 (age 40+);
• Have previously competed in a USA Powerlifting event in the previous 24 months*; or 
• If you are from a country that does not currently host USAPL events, you must be able to demonstrate that you previously competed in a drug tested powerlifting competition in the previous 24 months*.

We wish to put on a highly competitive and internationally inclusive competition for our Masters athletes and hope to see as many international athletes as possible compete.

Event logo and further details will be shared in the coming weeks. Early Bird entry deadline is February 15th, the Regular registration deadline is March 31st, and Late registration deadline is April 19th.

*24 month period is defined as April 19, 2021 through April 19, 2023.

USA POWERLIFTING WORLD RECORDS

Today we launched our official USA Powerlifting World Records. We have done this in an effort to align with our new and expanding international footprint. USA Powerlifting currently has 60 countries represented within our membership.

We established these World Records with the following criteria:

EXISTING IPF WORLD RECORDS SET 2020 AND BEFORE

Rationale:
USA Powerlifting and the IPF were aligned on drug testing until this point
USA Powerlifting was part of the IPF until this point
Lifts successfully completed with drug testing in place

AMERICAN RECORDS SET 2020 AND BEYOND WHICH EXCEEDED the IPF WORLD RECORDS

Using the above criteria, World Records set by Americans will remain as part of our new record set, while world records set by other countries will be marked as ‘World Record Standard’ to exceed.

Moving forward, lifters can set World Records under defined circumstances:

WORLD RECORD SETTING CRITERIA

1. 1. 1. 1. 1. Meet Types
               • Pro Meets
               • National Championships
               • International Events
            2. Judging – The lift must be adjudicated by 3 Cat 2 and/or Cat 1 referees 
            3. Drug Testing – Drug testing must be conducted to claim a World Record.

Australia will make history as it hosts the first non-US international competition this December. We have more exciting opportunities in the future for athletes to compete internationally, including the Masters World Cup. 

USA Powerlifting is America’s Choice for Drug-Free Strength Sport, and the nation’s leading powerlifting organization with over 20,000 active members. Founded in 1981 as the American Drug Free Powerlifting Association, USA Powerlifting is a mission-driven 501c(3) non-profit. USA Powerlifting is committed to maintaining a fair and level playing field by drug testing at every sanctioned competition. For more information email pr@usapowerlifting.com 

The dedicated website for our Pro Series is: pro.usapowerlifting.com

We are proud to announce that after much planning across the Executive Committee, Technical Committee, and numerous other individual efforts, we are launching four new competition categories. The Adaptive Athlete, MX, Para Bench, and Raw With Wrap categories. These categories will be in effect January 1, 2021 and available to athletes 14 and over at the Local, State, and Regional level. Below you will find more detailed information on each of the new categories.

Adaptive Athlete: The Adaptive Athlete category is intended for those athletes who physically are unable to adhere to 100% of the technical rules of performance as defined in the USA Powerlifting rulebook and would therefore be ineligible to compete. Examples of such situations include, but are not limited to, the following:

• amputated limb(s)/hand(s)/finger(s)/foot/feet/toe(s) with or without use of prosthetic device(s)
• inability to fully extend elbow(s) in the bench press
• inability to fully extend knee(s) in the squat and/or deadlift
• inability to rest head on the bench in the bench press
• inability to place one or both feet flat on the ground/blocks in the bench press
• inability to grasp bar without an assistive device
• inability to grasp bar in accordance with the rules

More in-depth information and details about the Adaptive Athlete Category can be found here.

MX: This new category provides dedicated competition space for any and all athletes no matter how they identify. Competitors who elect to compete within the MX Category compete across 14 weight classes in the Sub-Junior, Junior, Open, and Masters I-IV age categories.

MX category athletes follow the same rules of competition and are held to the same anti-doping requirements as all other categories.

Looking forward, we are working to ensure MX athletes will have a path to compete at a higher level. Starting in 2022, MX athletes will compete at Nationals and with that, have a path to international competition and the opportunity to represent the United States abroad.

The weight classes, which align with the LGBT Powerlifting Union’s MX category are as follows:

Go here for further details and FAQ for the MX category.

Para Bench: Earlier in 2020 we sent a team of our technical experts to study and learn from the US Para Powerlifting organization on how to prepare USA Powerlifting for this new category.

The Paralympic category in USA Powerlifting applies only to the bench press and the category is officially called “Para Bench.” The Para Bench category is open to male and female athletes with one or more of the 8 eligible physical impairments, as defined by World Para Powerlifting, if these impairments have a certain severity that impacts sport performance. There is an official table with a list of eligible impairments available at the link provided at the bottom of this section.

All Para Bench athletes have an impairment in their lower limbs or hips, which would prohibit them from competing in able-bodied powerlifting. For example, athletes with a single or double amputation through or above the ankle or stiffness of the knee joint would be eligible to compete. If an athlete does not have one of the impairment types listed, he or she may petition for a waiver that would allow him or her to compete in the Para Bench category with his or her impairment provided it is in the spirit of what the Para Bench category is intended to represent. USA Powerlifting have been adapted from World Para Powerlifting with some modifications to increase accessibility for athletes.

For a list of eligible impairments as well as more information click here.

Raw With Wraps: This division allows lifters to wear knee wraps that are in accordance with the technical rules; all other rules for raw lifting will be in effect.

Lifters can qualify to compete at Open (Equipped) Nationals, not Raw Nationals, if they meet or exceed the existing Open (Equipped) Category qualifying totals as given on the national website. There will, however, be no separate Raw With Wraps division offered at Open (Equipped) Nationals.

State and American records will be established for this division. Record standards will be set using the existing current raw records in the squat, bench, deadlift and total as of January 1, 2021. Raw with Wraps competitors must beat this record standard to be awarded a new Raw With Wraps record.

More details can be located here.

In Closing

We are excited to bring these four new categories to our members and offer more competition space for everyone. Our top priority remains, as it has been since our founding as the American Drug Free Powerlifting Association in 1981, to provide the premier drug free, fair play powerlifting platform in the United States.

In addition to our Mission and vision, we are also committed to upholding our Code of Conduct – especially nondiscrimination, professionalism, and respect. Our organization is a true microcosm of our great country and even through our differences, we remain family – it is what makes the sport of powerlifting so great.

2020 has been a challenging year for all of us, and we remain forever grateful to the athletes and for the hard work and dedication of our volunteers, meet directors, state chairs, referees and countless others who have helped and continue to help USA Powerlifting.

Questions?

The published rules for these new categories are published under the USA Powerlifting Rules & Bylaws page on our website.

Please read and review each of the published criteria for the new categories; links are placed under each in this announcement. If you are unable to find the answer to your question, please submit your question here: [Submit Questions]