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Changes in the world of Masters Weightlifting

Anna C

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Masters Weightlifting (Olympic Lifting) organizations and competitions are in the midst of a big shift right now. In short, USA Masters WL as a component of USA Weightlifting is splitting off to form a newly formed entity (corporation) as USA Masters Weightlifting, which is now recognized, not by the International Weightlifting Federation as USAW is, but by a new international-level Masters organization called International Masters Weightlifting Association (IMWA). This will affect meets, records, membership, and more. So the shift is international but also very much happening here too, in the US.

1684606574289.png

FYI, "Masters" in weightlifting are age 35 and older.

The larger issues -- For a sport that is part of the Olympics, isn't the country's primary organization mostly about recruiting and developing competitive athletes to win in Olympic and other international competitions? If so, how much attention should that organization pay to the masters athletes in the sport, who are no longer competitive towards that end goal, but are very much part of the sport overall? Will the picture change if/when weightlifting is no longer an Olympic sport (as seems likely after 2024) and USAW loses that focus and mission? What is the future of competitive weightlifting on a local, state, national, international, and Olympic stage? Who will make the rules, control the money, certify the coaches, and organize the meets? And lastly, based on all the online firestorms, how much say should members have in all of this? We pay dues and fees, we compete and participate... but most of us don't put our hearts and souls and endless resources into the game like some who are directly involved do. I always hate to see potshots by people who "feel" like they have the right to say anything they want criticizing those who have much more skin in the game, and for whom the issues are a lot more "life's work" than "hobbies." Social media, particularly FB, is awful that way. I feel like the discussions on forums is a bit more productive... and at least here, more respectful.

I've been weightlifting since late 2019 and competing since 2021, and headed to IWF Masters Pan American Championships next week in Orlando, FL as my 7th meet. Of the 6 meets I've done so far, 1 was unsanctioned, 3 were local/state USAW meets with mostly young lifters, and 2 were Masters events, with one of those being Masters Worlds. So I'm fairly new in this world but also somewhat invested in it and its future. Interested to see what happens... Although I'm just grateful that opportunities exist, and I hope they continue to exist. Even if the whole thing implodes, well, I still have my barbell, and can train. They're not coming for that. (And even if they do, I have my kettlebells ;) :) )

Even though most of you aren't weightlifters in the Olympic lifting sense of the word, I'd be interested in thoughts on this situation from all perspectives.
 
@Anna C, why do you think this split is happening? From the sound of the USAWL press release, it seems as if the impetus came from the masters lifters themselves. Do the masters lifters agree with that assessment? And will there continue to be a masters component to USAWL in competition with the new federation?

I am looking forward to competing at some point in the future, so I'm interested in all this.

Thanks.

-S-
 
I think it's coming from both sides and it's been brewing for a while, spurred to action by the international community, and some surprise moves here recently on both sides in the US.

USA Masters Weightlifting (as a committee within USAW, or Masters Council) has been running 4 big Masters meets per year: Nationals, Howard Cohen American Masters, Pan Ams, and Worlds. Masters can compete at these events, or at any USAW event.

In an open letter to members on 5/3/23, USAW CEO Matt Sicchio announced that USAW was taking control of Masters Nationals. The reasons had to do with remaining in good standing with the USOPC.

Then this week, USA Masters announced it had formed its own separate organization and IMWA announced that it recognized USA Masters. (so now, they can have their own Master Nationals in addition to USAW's Master Nationals? IDK... But there are other much bigger implications than that.)

Here's what USA Masters Weightlifting is saying currently:

1684611219277.png
 
Looks like the new organization is the way to go if you want to compete internationally. Personally, it would be the route I would take.

I don't really understand a thing why this all came to be but it's a sad state of affairs.
 
Masters Weightlifting (Olympic Lifting) organizations and competitions are in the midst of a big shift right now. In short, USA Masters WL as a component of USA Weightlifting is splitting off to form a newly formed entity (corporation) as USA Masters Weightlifting, which is now recognized, not by the International Weightlifting Federation as USAW is, but by a new international-level Masters organization called International Masters Weightlifting Association (IMWA). This will affect meets, records, membership, and more. So the shift is international but also very much happening here too, in the US.

View attachment 21418

FYI, "Masters" in weightlifting are age 35 and older.

The larger issues -- For a sport that is part of the Olympics, isn't the country's primary organization mostly about recruiting and developing competitive athletes to win in Olympic and other international competitions? If so, how much attention should that organization pay to the masters athletes in the sport, who are no longer competitive towards that end goal, but are very much part of the sport overall? Will the picture change if/when weightlifting is no longer an Olympic sport (as seems likely after 2024) and USAW loses that focus and mission? What is the future of competitive weightlifting on a local, state, national, international, and Olympic stage? Who will make the rules, control the money, certify the coaches, and organize the meets? And lastly, based on all the online firestorms, how much say should members have in all of this? We pay dues and fees, we compete and participate... but most of us don't put our hearts and souls and endless resources into the game like some who are directly involved do. I always hate to see potshots by people who "feel" like they have the right to say anything they want criticizing those who have much more skin in the game, and for whom the issues are a lot more "life's work" than "hobbies." Social media, particularly FB, is awful that way. I feel like the discussions on forums is a bit more productive... and at least here, more respectful.

I've been weightlifting since late 2019 and competing since 2021, and headed to IWF Masters Pan American Championships next week in Orlando, FL as my 7th meet. Of the 6 meets I've done so far, 1 was unsanctioned, 3 were local/state USAW meets with mostly young lifters, and 2 were Masters events, with one of those being Masters Worlds. So I'm fairly new in this world but also somewhat invested in it and its future. Interested to see what happens... Although I'm just grateful that opportunities exist, and I hope they continue to exist. Even if the whole thing implodes, well, I still have my barbell, and can train. They're not coming for that. (And even if they do, I have my kettlebells ;) :) )

Even though most of you aren't weightlifters in the Olympic lifting sense of the word, I'd be interested in thoughts on this situation from all perspectives.

Oh man my USAW membership fee just auto-renewed!
 
Oh man my USAW membership fee just auto-renewed!
Me too. And this is a big part of the discussion -- all that fee revenue from Masters is about half of USAW's income from fees. They don't want to lose that. But we (Masters) are not going to want to have to pay to belong to two separate organizations, so are we also going to join the new organization once they have membership fees. I guess it's going to be somewhat like powerlifting...

Right now, USA Masters Weightlifting says they recognize all masters who have a USAW membership. But some masters are saying they don't want to appropriated as members of the new organization. So that gets tricky too. I'm sure there will be more to come soon on membership as stated in the screen capture above.
 
Of the 6 meets I've done so far, 1 was unsanctioned, 3 were local/state USAW meets with mostly young lifters, and 2 were Masters events, with one of those being Masters Worlds. So I'm fairly new in this world but also somewhat invested in it and its future. Interested to see what happens... Although I'm just grateful that opportunities exist, and I hope they continue to exist. Even if the whole thing implodes, well, I still have my barbell, and can train. They're not coming for that. (And even if they do, I have my kettlebells ;) :) )

I wonder how this will affect local meet funding.

At the ones I've been to, the >35 crowd are probably 25-30% of the lifters, which helps offset costs.

Or will the local level try to mash things together and have sanctioned events happening in parallel / simultaneously
 
Yes, coaches and gyms who host local meets should be watching this closely. That could be quite a blow to them if masters quit competing at their events. USA Masters Weightlifting says "we bring all records; grand slams; HOF entries & points that the Masters community has built over the past 40 plus years".... but what about from this point forward?
 
Is IMWA going to be USADA compliant, given it doesn't feed up to the Olympics?
Good question. I don't think it's known yet.

5/10, Michael Cohen announced that USADA pulled out of drug testing for Masters Pan Am Championships. Heresay is that it had something to do with meet being under IMWA. USADA said it was a misrepresentation; it's because IMWA is not a signatory of the WADA code. They do have another org that stepped in but I don't have the specifics.

Suzy Sanchez has a bunch of informative posts on her Instagram for more info on USAW and the whole situation.
 
Me too. And this is a big part of the discussion -- all that fee revenue from Masters is about half of USAW's income from fees. They don't want to lose that. But we (Masters) are not going to want to have to pay to belong to two separate organizations, so are we also going to join the new organization once they have membership fees. I guess it's going to be somewhat like powerlifting...

Right now, USA Masters Weightlifting says they recognize all masters who have a USAW membership. But some masters are saying they don't want to appropriated as members of the new organization. So that gets tricky too. I'm sure there will be more to come soon on membership as stated in the screen capture above.

What do you mean it's going to be somewhat like powerlifting? From what I've seen and experienced, the IPF does well with masters' powerlifting.

Or do you mean how USAPL got kicked out of the IPF and there's Powerlifting America now in its place?
 
What do you mean it's going to be somewhat like powerlifting? From what I've seen and experienced, the IPF does well with masters' powerlifting.

Or do you mean how USAPL got kicked out of the IPF and there's Powerlifting America now in its place?
Yes, just that there will be more than one federation to choose from as far as competition.
 
So is there a hack whereby Masters could just compete as Seniors (18-35) in the IWF?

As far as I know, nothing in the rules prevents it.

You just won't be in your own age-appropriate group, i.e. 40-45, 45-50, etc

Seems like a workout around for at least local meets.
 
So is there a hack whereby Masters could just compete as Seniors (18-35) in the IWF?

As far as I know, nothing in the rules prevents it.

You just won't be in your own age-appropriate group, i.e. 40-45, 45-50, etc

Seems like a workout around for at least local meets.
Yes, we can always compete in Open categories. Just don't plan on medaling... but lots of us just compete to see if we can improve our own totals anyway.

Depending on the qualifying totals for international competition, competing against Seniors in an international meet seems very unlikely. Maybe the 35-40 yrs olds would have a chance. The rest of us, not so much.
 
Ugh, more drama.

1684844498255.png

The Masters group is hosting a live Q&A on Wednesday (tomorrow) at 5pm at the meet in Orlando to try to clarify some things and answer questions. I'm driving down there tomorrow but I'm going to try to make it there in time to attend. I compete on Thursday.
 
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