Something Sean Noriega, USA Powerlifter, said in a podcast interview recently struck a chord with me and like so often happens, once I see something, it’s hard to un-see it. He was discussing Powerlifting’s potential as an Olympic Sport and I agree with his opinion, which is shared by many by the way, that the chances of Powerlifting ever getting into the Olympics is slim. But the reason he gave was new to my ears, and I’ve considered it enough and seen enough examples to conclude, he may be right. This interesting observation was that Powerlifting is not aesthetically pleasing compared to Weightlifting. With weightlifting, there is a clean platform with a loaded barbell and one athlete enters the platform and performs a seemingly impossible feat, alone with no support or consideration for their safety. Witness this magnificent feat of pure athleticism for yourself:
Powerlifting by its nature, requires more equipment. There will be a Squat Stand on the platform with the loaded barbell on it, but there will also be at least 3 people on the platform to “spot” the athlete. The spotters are there for their safety in case they are unable to execute the lift, but let’s face it, it’s not exactly pretty to look at. When the weight gets heavy enough, there will be more than 3 as you can see here:
That’s just the Squat Event. The next lift, the Bench Press, is even worse. Not only is the lifter laying on the bench, which doesn’t look particularly athletic, but someone will usually hand them the barbell and then run away so the judge can see, and of course, the spotters are there.
Next up is the Deadlift, which many argue is the fan’s favorite lift. Could it be because it’s a loaded barbell on a clean platform, and one athlete enters the platform to perform a seemingly impossible feat, alone with no consideration for their safety?
I remain a fan of the sport, but if I’m honest with myself, it’s because it’s one of those sports where you watch and think to yourself, “I could do that.” It’s not for its scintillating action or its aesthetic beauty. I love to watch the IPF World Championships because it’s the best of the best facing off from across the globe, and the IPF media team does the best job in the sport with its live coverage. The format also keeps the competition moving along the best it can by limiting the size of each competition and separating the weight classes. So you can see some great battles between very closely matched competitors that often come down to the final Deadlift, as happened in the 2022 World Championships where the above clip comes from. Jessica Buettner had to attempt the heaviest Deadlift ever performed by a female athlete in the 50-year history of the IPF in order to win.
However, anything other than the IPF World Championships features a pretty dramatic fall off the aesthetic cliff. Even for a dedicated fan like myself, I find it hard to watch most of the live streamed Powerlifting Meets conducted at the local level, and even some national level Meets are sorely lacking in media execution. There are also many Powerlifting Meets that seem to relish in over the top WWE style stage production, with darkened rooms, flashing lights, seizure-inducing graphics, screaming announcers and all around mayhem that just adds to the already unflattering viewing experience. Behold:
Now John Haack is one of the best Powerlifters of all time, and this performance is truly astounding, but if you were watching this competition, it went on for hours like this and it was difficult, arguably impossible, to watch the entire thing.
So what can be done? Probably not much. The IPF is the global standard bearer and as I mentioned, their Championships are top notch in terms of the viewing experience for Powerlifting. But the underlying issues remain for the Squat and Bench Press that just don’t exist with Weightlifting, and even Weightlifting may be shown the door from the Olympic games. Granted it’s because of issues unrelated to its beauty as a sport, but would the specter of Weightlifting’s abuses not haunt Powerlifting in its efforts to get on the IOC’s good side?
Perhaps Powerlifting is destined to be exacty what it is: A sport anyone can participate in and enjoy the journey, the preparation and the moment of glory on the platform, with few people interested other than their friends and family. That’s pretty good, and maybe pretty good is good enough.
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