Para powerlifting words · Intermediate

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I · Intermediate · 38 words · Step 2 of 2

General terms

Recognised competition (para powerlifting)

The Paralympic Games, WPPO Championships (world and regional), WPPO Sanctioned Competitions such as World Cups, and WPPO Approved Competitions. The rules apply to all of them.

Technical delegate and officials (para powerlifting)

The International Federation Delegate has the highest authority over a competition, and the Competition Director and Event Director oversee it for WPPO. The Technical Delegate advises, monitors that the rules are followed, leads the technical officials and signs the final results of each medal event.

Classification and groups

Sport class (para powerlifting)

There is one sport class in para powerlifting. Every eligible athlete competes in it, and competition is divided by gender and by bodyweight category.

Eligible impairments (para powerlifting)

Eight physical types: impaired muscle power, impaired passive range of movement, limb deficiency, leg length difference, short stature, hypertonia, ataxia and athetosis. All athletes have an impairment in the lower limbs or hips that meets the minimum impairment criteria.

Age groups (para powerlifting)

Four groups: Rookie, 15 to 17; Next Gen, 18 to 20; Elite, 15 and over; and Legend, 45 and over. An athlete must reach the age by 31 December of the year of the competition.

Combined categories

When there are only one or two athletes in more than one bodyweight category of a gender, WPPO may combine them into one event, in which the coefficient formula decides the medals.

Groups (para powerlifting)

When eleven or more athletes compete in a category, they are split into groups of at least five, formed by the first attempt confirmed at the weigh-in. The lightest first attempts form the first group, and groups are labelled in descending alphabetical order, such as D, C, B and A.

Entries and events

Event viability and medals

One athlete in a category receives a medal only by lifting at least the minimum standard. Two athletes get gold and silver and three or more get all three medals. Only two athletes from the same NPC may win a medal in an individual event.

Minimum standard

The weight a lone athlete in a bodyweight category must lift to be awarded the medal. The standards are in an appendix to the rules.

Also called: MS

Coefficient formula

A formula that turns a lifted weight into a score so athletes of different bodyweights can be compared. It decides combined categories and is used for all results of team and mixed team events.

Also called: CF
See also: Combined categories

Team event (para powerlifting)

A team has three athletes of the same gender from the same NPC, who may be in different bodyweight categories. Each athlete lifts once, in the round their team official names, and the team's score is the sum of their coefficient scores. There are heats, head-to-head matches, and bronze and gold matches depending on the number of teams, and each NPC may enter at most three teams.

Mixed team event (para powerlifting)

A team of three athletes from the same NPC with at least one woman and one man. It is run and scored like a team event.

Weigh-in and order

Random weigh-in

A second weigh-in that WPPO may hold on the day of the medal event. An athlete who weighs more than a published percentage above their first weigh-in is disqualified.

Lot number

A number given to each athlete from the world ranking list in their bodyweight category, rank 1 receiving lot number 1. It decides the order of the weigh-in and who lifts first when attempts are equal, with the highest lot number going first.

Lifting order (para powerlifting)

Within a group the athletes lift from the lightest to the heaviest attempt weight in each round. If two or more athletes have the same attempt, the one with the highest lot number lifts first.

Rack height

The height of the bar rests, confirmed at weigh-in with the starting weight. The athlete or team official may change it at any time during the event, through the marshall only.

Lift attempts

Opening attempt

The weight chosen for round 1, confirmed at weigh-in and at least 25 kg. One change is allowed, up to 10 kg lower, not below 25 kg, or up to 10 kg higher, until five minutes before the round starts.

Marshall

The technical official who accepts and checks athletes' attempt changes and approves record and Power Lift requests.

Team official (para powerlifting)

One team official may accompany the athlete to the bench and help them on and off it and strapped, and must then stay in the designated area during the lift. One may also help take the bar from the racks if the technical delegate approved it in the warm-up.

Spotter loaders

The officials who load and unload the discs on the bar, keep the field of play safe, and follow the path of the lift, helping only if the chief referee or athlete asks. They help the athlete take the bar from the racks and put it back after the rack command.

Judging

Start and rack commands

The chief referee says start, with a downward movement of the arm, when satisfied with the athlete's body position, and rack, with a backward movement, when the lift is complete or will fail for safety reasons. A side referee raises an arm if the body position is wrong before the start command.

Body position (para powerlifting)

The shoulders, buttocks, fully extended legs and heels, if applicable, stay on the bench, though the athlete may shake or slide if the starting position does not change. All fingers wrap round the bar with the thumbs opposite, a reverse grip is not allowed, and the hands must be within 81 cm of each other measured from either forefinger by the markings on the bar. Exceptions need approval through the codes of exception.

Bar Stop System

Technology that gives an audible signal when it detects the bar stopping on the athlete's chest. When it is used, no signal means the bar has not stopped.

Also called: BSS

The ruleWhat makes a good lift in para powerlifting?

Referees (para powerlifting)

A chief referee and a left and a right side referee judge each lift. The chief referee also gives the commands and leads the spotter loaders. VRS technical officials judge the lift too, and their decision counts only if a lift challenge is raised.

Lift challenge

A way for an athlete to protest their own no lift, using a card bought for 100 euros and handed in within one minute of the decision. The video review overturns the decision only if all three reviewers judge a good lift, in which case the card and fee are returned. The outcome is final.

Errors on the field of play

Errors that can be raised for the current attempt: an incorrectly loaded bar, wrong rack height, announcer or timekeeping error, a spotter touching the bar, or broken equipment. Raised before the start command, the clock stops and the athlete gets two minutes after correction. After the lift, a no lift caused by an error is repeated straight away with three minutes.

Records and results

Best lift and total lift

The best lift is the heaviest good lift within the three attempts and any Power Lift. The total lift is the sum of the good lifts, and its medals are given at all recognised competitions except the Games. Ties go to the athlete who completed the lift first.

Record attempt

An athlete may try to break a record in the individual event at recognised competitions except hybrid and approved ones, subject to anti-doping rules. A new record must beat the old by at least 1 kg, and records are kept for the four age groups, for men and women, and for world and regional levels.

Power Lift

A fourth attempt to break a record, after the third round, where anti-doping testing is being done. It is approved only if the third attempt was a good lift within 10 kg of the record or was itself a successful record attempt, and is requested to the marshall within one minute of the decision.

See also: Marshall, Good lift, Record attempt

Equipment and uniform

Competition platform

The 4 m by 4 m area of the field of play, flat and non-slip and no more than 5 cm high, on a stage able to support at least 2,000 kg.

Bench (para powerlifting)

A flat bench 2,100 mm long and 610 mm wide, narrowing to 305 mm from 705 mm from the head end, and 480 to 500 mm high. The rack uprights adjust from 700 to 1,200 mm and the inner width between the bar rests is at least 1,100 mm.

Bar and discs

The bar weighs 20 kg and is 28 mm thick, with a marking 810 mm apart for the hand limit, and the collars weigh 2.5 kg each. Discs are loaded heaviest innermost, with the first disc facing in, and 50 kg discs are used for attempts of 236 kg and above.

Lifting suit (para powerlifting)

One one-piece, form-fitting suit of one layer, with shoulder straps or sleeves not past the middle of the deltoid, and no pockets, padding, seam reinforcement or other additions. At world and sanctioned competitions the suit and bench straps must come from WPPO approved suppliers.

Bench straps

One or two straps for stability, 160 to 220 cm long and 7.5 to 10 cm wide, fastened with Velcro and placed between the midpoint of the ankles and the midpoint of the hips. Two straps must never overlap. Exceptions for placement need approval through the codes of exception.

Codes of exception (para powerlifting)

Technical exceptions to the rules granted to an athlete because of their impairment or health condition, such as for shoes, strap placement or the locked elbow rule. They are approved through the process on the WPPO website.

Kit check

The inspection of an athlete's uniform and personal equipment before their event, done in the warm-up and again in the call area.

Station discipline

Station

A second WPPO discipline in which athletes compete in a series of three stations that test different elements of strength, such as a medicine ball slam, an endurance bench press, or a sled push in the winter version. The programme is set by the event director for each competition.

Station event format

A qualification round, then finals for each station and for the all-around, with the six best ranked athletes qualifying and scores reset to zero in each final. Team and mixed team finals use the six best teams. The format, which may include movements, repetitions, weight and a time limit, is set by the technical delegate and WPPO and given at least thirty minutes before the event.