USA Weightlifting Announces Events, Search for Locations

USA Weightlifting are pleased to announce their planned calendar through the 2020 Olympic Games Trials event.

The USA Weightlifting Board Directors, working on advice from Head Coach Zygmunt Smalcerz, agreed the following calendar for the 2016-2020 Olympic Quadrennial.

The USA Weightlifting staff, in concert with the Competition Committee, will immediately begin seeking sites for events beginning with the 2017 National Junior Championships. If your club or city is interested in hosting an event please reach out to Phil Andrews, Director of Events & Programs at phil.andrews@usaweightlifting.org

This calendar is designed to give coaches and athletes clear guidance on when USA Weightlifting competitions will take place each year in order to aid them in making competition plans. USA Weightlifting will work with host cities to keep consistent timing throughout the quadrennial period.

Please note that in the event a major IWF or PAWF event overlaps with these events, a move may be necessitated. Qualifying totals will still be approved on an annual basis, based off of the previous events and the advice of the Competition and Technical Committees.

In order to satisfy the increasing demand to compete in the sport of Weightlifting, USA Weightlifting will be introducing the American Open Series.

Based in part on the German Bundesliga or Polish League systems, and the advice of Head Coach Zygmunt Smalcerz, the series will be held 3 times a year with a Finals in the place of the current American Open event.

This series of Open events including sections for Senior, Master, Youth and Junior Athletes provides an opportunity to earn points across the year using the IWF Points system (points given for total only).

Double points will be on offer at the American Open Finals.

Team entries will also be able to be taken across the entire Open series.

Athletes and Teams need not attend the entire series, but rather may pick and choose which of the open events that they wish to attend. The events are entirely optional events, and athletes are not anticipated to have to “max out” at each and every event if they do chose to attend, again in concert with the German Bundesliga concept.

Whilst the events are not a regional event, it is the intent of USA Weightlifting to spread these events around the nation to reduce travel costs for those wishing to attend only one event.

The Top 3 placements in each Weight Category at each series event will gain an automatic entry to the National Championships for their age group (excludes Masters).