Powerlifting
General Information, Organisations, Personalities Meets, Records
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 Powerlifting
as it's known today was born from the
strongman shows of the
19th
century. During that time, professional strongmen performed a variety of
lifts at entertainment venues around the world. Some of the strongman
lifts were also used in training as weightlifting became a more popular
activity towards the end of the century. In 1928 the
Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) recognized
three lifts, the snatch, the press, and the clean and jerk as Olympic
lifts. It grouped all other lifts together as the "odd lifts" or "power
lifts". Among them were the
squat, the
deadlift, and the back lift (to
become the
bench press). At bodybuilding contests after World War II,
exhibitions of power lifts and informal competitions often occurred.
During the 1950s, as Olympic weightlifting declined in the United States, grassroots support and momentum for the power lifts was occurring across America. As a result, in 1958, the AAU's National Weightlifting Committee decided to recognize records for odd lifts, provided they occurred at sanctioned AAU meets. By 1963 the appeal of powerlifting competitions could no longer be ignored by the AAU and a committee was formed to study the sport and assemble a list of recommendations. In June of 1964 the AAU Weightlifting Committee met in Chicago and its members voted a change in the rules to eliminate the barbell curl and keep the bench, squat, and deadlift for powerlifting competitions. The AAU officially sanctioned powerlifting as a sport in December of 1964.The first national powerlifting meet was held in York, Pennsylvania on September 5, 1964. The "Power Lift Tournament of America" was organized by York Barbell and held at William Penn Senior High School. The AAU held its first national championship, the Junior and Senior National Championships, in September of 1965.
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The
first international powerlifting organization, the
International Powerlifting Federation
(IPF),
was founded in 1973, led by the efforts of the United States and Great
Britain. They held their first world championships later that year, the
6th annual AAU Senior National Powerlifting Championships, in New
Orleans, Louisiana. |
 Major Events
IPF World Championships
WPC Worlds
WPO Finals
GPC World Championships
WDFPF Powerlifting World Championships APF Senior Nationals |
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