There is a petition out to put PL in the olympics. If interested then PM me for more info.
Wanna keep this afloat for awhile.
It would be good in the olympics.
An alround weightlfting event that tested equally strength and power in both the upper and lower body would be also be good. Maybe a combine of some of the weightlifting and powerlifting events.
Maybe a 3 lifts event:
deadlift (strength lower body)
clean and jerk (power whole body)
clean and press (strength upper body)
Also a stripped down or new version of the olympics would be good.
Just focus on the basics individual athletic feats (e.g. sprinting, swimming, weightliftig) that can be measured (i.e. how fast, how far, how much).
The general public is not interested. Get it through your head. Olympic Weightlifting is already one of the most UNpopular sports at the olympics, why would they bring about another. The only reason Weightlifting is still there is because of tradition. The Olympics are a business for the IOC, the host countries and the television broadcasting companies. People want to see more extreme sports, stuff that is actually exciting to watch. The IOC is not going to add a sport just to make some “steroid-freaks” happy. And yes, this is how most people view powerlifters, bodybuilders and weightlifters. The IOC doesn’t need any more steroid controversy, so they wouldn’t go near powerlifting with a 100m flagpole. Skateboarding will make it into the Olympics before Powerlifting does, and I’m not being sarcastic here.
Yeah I agree with Bluey get rid of all crappy team sports like hockey, football, basketball, baseball and racket sports like tennis, badminton and table tennis?!. No equestrian shit either. Rowing and sailing you must be joking.
Powerlifting would be a great addition but its not even recognised by the IOC but bridge, boules and chess are!?!?! WTF
PL meets already meets the requirements a sport must have to be included in the olympics…there are already some 16,000 names on the petition…
Anyway I only put this post up so if anyone wants to sign the petition they can find out where to go…
i think powerlifting should be in the x-games…it is truly a extreme sport…bm
I am going to watch the my state powerlifitng tiles in a couple of weeks. It is in the city center and as such might draw a crowd.
I don’t thin PL will get into the olympics but it would be nice if it did.
PL (well at least the bench press) is an event in the para-olympics.
There was once (i.e. circa 1900) 6 lifting events in the olympics.
one hand clean and press (not to sure about this one)
one hand snatch
one hand clean and jerk
two hand clean and press
two hand snatch
two hand clean and jerk
The one hand lifts went out early on but the press was around to the 1970’s.
The events have changed in the past so why not in the future.
What I think would help PL and WL would be to combine the two. Thus have a carnival like an athletics carnival. Have a snatch, C+j, bench, squat, DL event. Something for everyone.
I don’t really want powerlifting to grow any more than it already has. I like the ‘hardcore, underground’ aspect of it. Nobody gets into powerlifting for the glitz or glamour, nobody does it for money; just guys and gals with a heart of gold and bones of steel that want to put it all on the line and lift some heavy shit.
The Olympics were not a business in the past. They are today. Billions(not millions) of dollars are involved nowdays. That’s 1 huge difference!
ryn mayo thats a great post…man i fell the same way…i would rather see it in the x-games being as extreme as it can be…i love ot see huge lifts…bm
Powerlifters should be glad their sport has got nothing to do with coming games in Athens. Their fingerprints won’t be on that train wreck. We should hold off the push to be included in the games until after the Big Fat Greek Fuck Up has concluded.
Ryan,
it is not as if there are a lot of olympic weightlifters who enter the sport for the “glitz”, at least not in the u.s. and from the look of their training halls, the foriegn weightlifters may be recognized, but they are hardly like professional american athletes. powerlifting would remain just as marginalized as an olympic sport.
I do, however, like bm’s idea of putting powerlifting in the x-games–except i think the pot smoker’s would also find it boring.
I don’t see how Powerlifting would ever successfully enter the Olympics.
The big business aspect is one reason.
The multitude of competing organizations in Powerlifting would most likely fight forever about who’s rules would be used.
I suspect the Olympic committee would walk away from the organizational infighting before anything got resolved.
So then who would decide things like depth of squat, bench shirt limitations/rules, squat equipment limitations/rules.
If the Olympics were ‘raw’, almost none of the big names would participate. If with equipment, another problem comes up.
The Olympics has the strictest drug policies anywhere. Some cold medicines will get you banned.
So who will compete? How many of the top PLers are clean enough to pass Olympic standards? any?
Or would Olympic Powerlifting look like Olympic baseball - a bunch of ‘who dat’ players representing America. Is there a point to having a bunch of ‘who dat’ PL’ers competing for gold medals?
What would it accomplish to have most particpants disqualified and banned and have the winning bench be a raw 475 by someone you’ve never heard of?
The whole thing doesn’t make sense.
If it were in the Olympics I highly doubt it would be raw. Triple demin bench shirts maybe not, but I think double poly bench shirts, squat and deadlift suits would fly.
Just a comment about baseball in the Olympics. I agree that it is a bunch of no names, which is usually not as interesting, but can be (1980 US Hockey Team). That is why I hope they are able to begin the baseball World Cup they’ve been discussing, which would be amazing and extremely competitive.