How to qualify in Para powerlifting

How para powerlifters qualify for the Los Angeles 2028 Paralympics

Checked 20 October 2026Valid for: para powerlifting at the LA28 Paralympic Games, under the IPC's Los Angeles 2028 Paralympic Games Qualification Regulations v1.12 (16 October 2026), chapter 19 (World Para Powerlifting, WPPO). Not covered: the World Para Powerlifting Qualification Pathway 2025-2028 document itself (not saved; it holds the exceptions); how the ranking list orders lifters (see the para powerlifting ranking page).

Para powerlifting at LA28 has 20 medal events, ten bodyweight categories for each gender, and 180 places (90 men, 90 women).

Men	Women
-49, -54, -59, -65, -72, -80, -88, -97, -107, +107 kg	-41, -45, -50, -55, -61, -67, -73, -79, -86, +86 kg

Places go to the lifter. The top eight in each category on the Preliminary Paralympic Ranking List closing 6 June 2028 qualify, with one lifter per country per category and at most eight men and eight women per country. The ranking counts lifts from 1 January 2026. Ten men and ten women are invited.

There is no host place in this sport.

Getting onto the list takes a long path. A lifter must have taken part in every step of the World Para Powerlifting Qualification Pathway:

the 2025 World Championships or Junior World Championships;
their 2026 regional open championships;
the 2027 World Championships or Junior World Championships;
at least two competitions in 2028 before 30 June: their 2028 regional open championships, and another regional open championships or a World Cup.

A lifter who missed the 2025 World Championships is out, unless they get an exception under the pathway document or an invitation.

Places by route

Route	Men	Women
Top eight in each category on the ranking of 6 June 2028	80	80
Bipartite Commission Invitations	10	10
Total	90	90

Places that cannot be filled from the ranking go out as invitations.

Eligibility

A World Para Powerlifting licence for each of the 2026, 2027 and 2028 seasons.
International classification (Confirmed, or Review after 31 December 2028).
Every step of the Qualification Pathway (above).
A place on the Preliminary Paralympic Ranking List closing 6 June 2028.

Invitations can waive the last two.

Too many lifters from one country

A country can enter one lifter per category. If it has lifters ranked in more than one category for the same person, or more than eight in the top eight of the categories for one gender, it must tell WPPO by 12 June 2028 which category each lifter will lift in, and which eight per gender take the places. If it does not, WPPO decides from the most recent competition, with no appeal.

Dates

Date	What happens
1 January 2026	Ranking period opens
5 May 2028	Accreditation Long List due
6 June 2028	Ranking period closes
8 June 2028	WPPO updates the Preliminary Paralympic Ranking List
12 June 2028	Countries declare categories and their eight per gender
15 June 2028	Paralympic ranking published; places confirmed; invitations open
19 June 2028	Countries accept places; invitation applications close
30 June 2028	Invitations announced; reallocation; countries declare use
24 July 2028	Sport entries close

Unused places go out as invitations by 30 June 2028; after that they go back to the IPC.

Points to check

The pathway document named in the eligibility rules is on the WPPO website but not saved here. Its exceptions decide who can miss a step.
The ranking explainer notes that the WPPO rules give no ranking period for the world ranking; for the Paralympic list this chapter gives one: 1 January 2026 to 6 June 2028.