Sport Profiles, Powerlifting
Sport Summary:
Powerlifting for athletes with a disability made its first appearance in 1964 at the second Paralympic Games in Tokyo as ‘Weightlifting’. Later it changed from ‘Weightlifting’ to ‘Powerlifting’. The competition is open to all athletes with cerebral palsy, spinal injuries, amputees (lower limb amputees only) and les autres who meet minimal disability criteria. Powerlifting is the ultimate test of upper body strength. Competitors must lower the bar to the chest, hold it motionless on the chest and then press it upwards to arms length with locked elbows. The bench press is the only discipline with 10 different categories based on body weight. The athletes are given three attempts and the winner is the athlete who lifts the highest number of kilograms.
Paralympic Events (in Beijing 2008):
- Men’s competition is divided into 10 weight divisions, from 48kg to over 100kg.
- Women’s competition is divided into 10 weight divisions, from 40kg and over 82.5kg.
Discs: To have IPC Powerlifting approval discs must conform as follows:
- All discs used in competition must weigh within 0.25% of their correct face value.
- The size of the hole in the middle of the disc may not exceed 53 mm or be less than 52mm.
- Discs must be within the following range: 1.25kg, 2.5kg, 5kg, 10kg, 15kg, 20kg and 25kg.
- For record purpose, lighter discs may be used to achieve a weight of a least 500 gr. more than the existing record.
- Discs must conform to the following colour code: 25kg = red, 20kg = blue, 15kg = yellow, 10kg and under = any colour.
- All discs must be clearly marked with their weight and loaded in the sequence of heavier discs innermost with the smaller discs in descending weight arranged so that the referees can read the weight on each disc.
- The first and heaviest disc loaded on the bar must be loaded face in, with the rest of the discs loaded face out.
- The diameter of the largest disc shall not be more than 450mm.
The Bench: Athletes compete lying on a bench. The official bench is 2.1m long. The main part of the bench is 61cm wide. At the end of the bench and towards the head, the bench narrows down to 30cm. The height of the bench varies between 45 and 50cm from the ground.
Classification:
In powerlifting, athletes with amputations and other (les autres) disabilities can compete together against athletes with Cerebral Palsy, wheelchair athletes and short-stature athletes, divided into different weight classes.
To become eligible in International powerlifting competition, the athletes have to meet minimum disability criteria as outlined in the relevant publications of ISOD, (CP-ISRA) and ISMWSF.
Click here for a more detailed explanation of powerlifting classification.
Documents:
<Currently unavailable on the APC site>
Links:
- International Paralympic Committee – www.paralympic.org
History:
Weightlifting
|
|
Gold |
Silver |
Bronze |
Total |
|
1964 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
3 |
|
1968 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
|
1972 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
1976 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
|
1980 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
|
1984 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
|
1988 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
|
1992 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
|
3 |
4 |
5 |
12 |
Powerlifting
|
|
Gold |
Silver |
Bronze |
Total |
|
1988 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
|
1996 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
|
2000 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
|
2004 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
|
2008 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
|
|
0 |
5 |
1 |
6 |
