Hello!
Here in Italy, at october/november we will have elections for the new president of FIPE (the national weightlifting federation). Urso, current president and general secretary of the IWF, will not run again because there is a need for a different management of the federation, more economical and less sporting.
He said that we will have to prepare because from 2025 there will be changes in the regulation, but he obviously didn't say which ones. I'm pretty sure there will be a reshuffle of the weight categories (which seems to become 8) and... then? Have we already reached the point of abolishing the press out? There was also discussion of a change in the racing format to make the sport more "spectacular".
What do you think?
Regulation changes in 2025
Re: Regulation changes in 2025
I'm not sure what you mean by racing format.
I am indifferent to abolishing the elbow rules, but I would welcome the change simply from the perspective of more consistent refereeing. Most referees, at all levels, do not have the skill to be consistent with application of the rules. This inconsistent application of rules then leads to unfair competitions.
One problem I see is that the snatch loses its identity, where some lifters will simply do a deadlift and dive under + press, and there may be some issues with lifters dropping the bar on their necks. For the jerk, I have no issue abolishing the press-out.
The other, more serious problem, is that this has been proposed in the past and gotten nowhere. Unless something is different this time, it may once again end up being a lot of noise amounting to nothing.
As for the weight categories, I don't really know what is happening. More importantly, I don't understand why the current happenings are the way they are. Some people seem to think the quota can be increased, others don't. I don't think it's possible because of other IOC politics/financial interests not related to weightlifting.
8+8 categories isn't much of an issue but with an athlete quota of 120-150, that means 8 or 9 lifters per category (top 6-7 + 1 continental + 1 universality) at the Olympics. If this is acceptable to the board then it can be done, but I doubt this has been considered. 12 lifters per category across 8+8 categories would be 192 athletes - a steep increase over 120-150.
Ultimately, we will have to see what happens. I think it's a bit silly to speculate and design weight categories before the quota is released for weightlifting in 2025. This applies both to the spectators gallery like ourselves, as well as the executive board.
I am indifferent to abolishing the elbow rules, but I would welcome the change simply from the perspective of more consistent refereeing. Most referees, at all levels, do not have the skill to be consistent with application of the rules. This inconsistent application of rules then leads to unfair competitions.
One problem I see is that the snatch loses its identity, where some lifters will simply do a deadlift and dive under + press, and there may be some issues with lifters dropping the bar on their necks. For the jerk, I have no issue abolishing the press-out.
The other, more serious problem, is that this has been proposed in the past and gotten nowhere. Unless something is different this time, it may once again end up being a lot of noise amounting to nothing.
As for the weight categories, I don't really know what is happening. More importantly, I don't understand why the current happenings are the way they are. Some people seem to think the quota can be increased, others don't. I don't think it's possible because of other IOC politics/financial interests not related to weightlifting.
8+8 categories isn't much of an issue but with an athlete quota of 120-150, that means 8 or 9 lifters per category (top 6-7 + 1 continental + 1 universality) at the Olympics. If this is acceptable to the board then it can be done, but I doubt this has been considered. 12 lifters per category across 8+8 categories would be 192 athletes - a steep increase over 120-150.
Ultimately, we will have to see what happens. I think it's a bit silly to speculate and design weight categories before the quota is released for weightlifting in 2025. This applies both to the spectators gallery like ourselves, as well as the executive board.
Re: Regulation changes in 2025
Sorry, I meant "competition format". Urso says that the classical weightlifting competition is not spectacular, boring in some ways. Do you think there will be any changes to the format of the competition as early as 2025?
This is the problem: how can you be consistent? The rule is clear: you have to straight your elbow and keep it straight. Just one single degree of flexion is a fault. Ok, one degree is too small to give a "no rep". Two degrees? 5 degrees? I don't like the idea of the press out being removed because at smaller competitions you will see clean + almost military press, for sure, but I can't see how this rule can be manteined.
But, as you say, it's something that has been discussed for some time, it seems strange to me that decisions are already being made for 2025.
Re: Regulation changes in 2025
Weight class change I can see happening based on the number of classes - there are a lot and I dont see any possibility of more classes in the 2028 Olympics than 5 like we have for Paris.
It is interesting to note that the new international Masters Federation has gone with the following, which is a mix of existing classes and new 'bridging classes' -
Women: 50, 55, 60, 66, 73, 81, 87, 87+
Men: 60, 66, 73, 82, 90, 98, 109, 109+
Could this be a model that is adopted? I'd actually be okay with this.
As for 'competition format' - I'm not really sure what options exist that would make it more 'spectacular'. Lifters are already lifting to max, and format does little to change how evenly matched lifters in a given session are. The most obvious change available would be moving to the rounds system like we see in the Bundesliga or Powerlifting. The round system might make the sessions slightly quicker, and that is something that might increase appeal as we have been hearing all sort of bleating about the length of competitions for a while from 'the old guard'.
Honestly I believe its culture, Powerlifting comps are breath-takingly boring. Crossfit comps are breath-takingly boring. The overall culture of IWF competition, whilst improved, is still a little stuffy. There is a new CEO now, I hope we might see some commercial approach to competition staging. If you listen to the media providers, they still have a lot of trouble with consistent access to the event and training halls, and those guys are providing a huge amount of complimentary attention to the sport. More designated IWF event staff might help, right now, local organising committees perform a lot of tasks.
The Bundesliga looks fun when its taking place inside a beer hall, that probably has more to do with the beer than the rounds system. If there is an honest desire to reformat the sport to make it more appealing to spectators and sponsors the IWF needs to try a bit of everything. Look at what LIV Golf has done, 20/20 and IPL Cricket - innovations that try to balance traditions and modernity.
It is interesting to note that the new international Masters Federation has gone with the following, which is a mix of existing classes and new 'bridging classes' -
Women: 50, 55, 60, 66, 73, 81, 87, 87+
Men: 60, 66, 73, 82, 90, 98, 109, 109+
Could this be a model that is adopted? I'd actually be okay with this.
As for 'competition format' - I'm not really sure what options exist that would make it more 'spectacular'. Lifters are already lifting to max, and format does little to change how evenly matched lifters in a given session are. The most obvious change available would be moving to the rounds system like we see in the Bundesliga or Powerlifting. The round system might make the sessions slightly quicker, and that is something that might increase appeal as we have been hearing all sort of bleating about the length of competitions for a while from 'the old guard'.
Honestly I believe its culture, Powerlifting comps are breath-takingly boring. Crossfit comps are breath-takingly boring. The overall culture of IWF competition, whilst improved, is still a little stuffy. There is a new CEO now, I hope we might see some commercial approach to competition staging. If you listen to the media providers, they still have a lot of trouble with consistent access to the event and training halls, and those guys are providing a huge amount of complimentary attention to the sport. More designated IWF event staff might help, right now, local organising committees perform a lot of tasks.
The Bundesliga looks fun when its taking place inside a beer hall, that probably has more to do with the beer than the rounds system. If there is an honest desire to reformat the sport to make it more appealing to spectators and sponsors the IWF needs to try a bit of everything. Look at what LIV Golf has done, 20/20 and IPL Cricket - innovations that try to balance traditions and modernity.
Re: Regulation changes in 2025
Regarding the modification of the competition format:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RsvqGM-LiU
Dino Marcuz (from Pesistica Pordenone, one of the most important team in Italy) says:
- Weightlifting nowdays is slow, not salable or proposable, especially for those who are outside of weightlifting. And this is because of political immobility;
- People don't understand when a lift is valid or not (regarding the elbow rule);
- He has sperimented a new format: 6 platforms for six athletes (here in Italy we have 6 athletes at the finals per weight category), when an athlete he finishes his lift, the other starts, and so on. With this format you can see also the warmup, the most entertaining part of the competitions;
- Just one smart judge per competition.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mj-Vhi6xk1I
Urso says:
- Weightlifting is getting old, competitions are too long and there is too dead time.
- As a provocation he suggests using 6 platforms and having each athlete do just one lift for exercise.
- There will be 8 new categories and he hopes there will be 7 categories at the Olympics, composed of 8 or 10 athletes.
I remember a video in which Urso told more about a possible new competition format, but I can't find it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RsvqGM-LiU
Dino Marcuz (from Pesistica Pordenone, one of the most important team in Italy) says:
- Weightlifting nowdays is slow, not salable or proposable, especially for those who are outside of weightlifting. And this is because of political immobility;
- People don't understand when a lift is valid or not (regarding the elbow rule);
- He has sperimented a new format: 6 platforms for six athletes (here in Italy we have 6 athletes at the finals per weight category), when an athlete he finishes his lift, the other starts, and so on. With this format you can see also the warmup, the most entertaining part of the competitions;
- Just one smart judge per competition.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mj-Vhi6xk1I
Urso says:
- Weightlifting is getting old, competitions are too long and there is too dead time.
- As a provocation he suggests using 6 platforms and having each athlete do just one lift for exercise.
- There will be 8 new categories and he hopes there will be 7 categories at the Olympics, composed of 8 or 10 athletes.
I remember a video in which Urso told more about a possible new competition format, but I can't find it.