Weightlifting Forums

Six categories should be (proportionality 1,16/1,14):

60-69-81-94-110-SHW

50-57-65-74-85-SHW

Everyone, from everywhere, of every height and width would fit with these.
The actually chosen classes WILL be worse. Of course.

erpel wrote: ↑Fri Oct 10, 2025 7:22 am Six categories should be (proportionality 1,16/1,14):

60-69-81-94-110-SHW
50-57-65-74-85-SHW

Everyone, from everywhere, of every height and width would fit with these.
The actually chosen classes WILL be worse. Of course.

I worked out something similar on a spreadsheet somewhere, with a few different start points and % jumps between categories.

Like you say, the categories will not be decided by any data driven approach nor even a theoretical logical approach. What I have seen floated around has been M65-75-85-95-110-SHW and W50-60-70-80-90-SHW. Neither example would be good and I have no evidence to show that those noises are true, so it is probably true.

strapping wrote: ↑Fri Oct 10, 2025 9:49 amW50-60-70-80-90-SHW

This might be rage bait, but its well edited to highlight what many people believe to be a big problem.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enhanced_Games#Athletes

Sooo... how is this supposed to work in WL? With Athletics and Swimming you have persistent records because events have remained the same (ignoring minor things like javelin).

I'm assuming there will be weight classes? So which records will they attempt to break? A current 110 WR is easier than a 105 WR. And if they want to provide evidence for the superiority of the "enhanced" part, will they tackle the 1992 numbers?

Even apart from any ethical concerns, this doesn't seem well thought out so far. Unless you only have an open/SHW category.

Hawkpeter wrote: ↑Wed Oct 22, 2025 8:15 pm This might be rage bait, but its well edited to highlight what many people believe to be a big problem.

The existence of the jury and many of the personalities that it consists of are already rage bait; clickbait cannot further fill a cup which is already overflowing

erpel wrote: ↑Sat Oct 25, 2025 7:37 am https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enhanced_Games#Athletes

Sooo... how is this supposed to work in WL? With Athletics and Swimming you have persistent records because events have remained the same (ignoring minor things like javelin).

I'm assuming there will be weight classes? So which records will they attempt to break? A current 110 WR is easier than a 105 WR. And if they want to provide evidence for the superiority of the "enhanced" part, will they tackle the 1992 numbers?

Even apart from any ethical concerns, this doesn't seem well thought out so far. Unless you only have an open/SHW category.

I don't think any of the organisers are true fans of individual sports. They are the usual billionaire and tech bro egos striving to find ways to run from their own mortality as a substitute for the void of humanity in their lives. There have been no signs that they truly care about health and safety (outside of throwaway lines) or detailed scientific analysis; it seems to me more of a political project than a science experiment.

None of them will care about the differences between 2025-2018-1997-1992. I'd expect something like a World Cup/demonstration event where each athlete is trying to break their own category's contemporary records.

If it does end up running, I'd suspect that the performance improvements from drugs will be masked somewhat by the fact that they're going to attract athletes who are past their best. I'd expect, with enough time on drugs, about a 12-15% Sinclair improvement above baseline (not compared to previous best).

On the recent topic of Pakistan being banned, it seems Muhammad Nooh Dastgir Butt is competing in a USA weightlifting competition. The Americans are definitely aware of the issue around Pakistani participation.

It would be a bizarre twist of events if someone who clearly does not get along with his banned federation still gets banned from lifting, but I would understand if USA Weightlifting blocks it.

Alex Macznik flies under the radar but is compiling a lot of interesting guests for interviews. Here she is talking to Brian Oliver.

I didn't feel this fit into the news thread. Athletes past their performance prime (arugably minus Arley, Juan Solis) joining for a quick dollar.

Who will be the judges? Will there be a jury?