President's Message

Just this past weekend, I attended the Bench Press Nationals in Denver hosted by Dan and Jennifer Gaudreau. This competition represented much of what is good about USA Powerlifting. The production was great, venue nice, weather good, and the meet was surprisingly without controversy. The refereeing was consistent and met the standard and there were just very few complaints. However, the best aspect of the competition was the friendship among the competitors. No one would ever characterize bench press competitors as lacking confidence but there was no gamesmanship that I saw or any disparaging of other competitors. It was refreshing.

In mid-October, the IFP Open Men's and Women's World Championships were held in Soelden, Austria. It was a great location. A little out of the way, but picturesque and perfect for us cold adapted people. The U.S. Teams did well on a tough year and conducted themselves like champions throughout the week.

This was an IFP election year. There were three qualified candidates for President, all with a vision for the future of the IPF and a strong background in our sport. At the end of the day, Detlev Albrings emerged as the new leader of the IPF, with Susumu Yoshida appointed first Vice President. This first month has reflected improved communcations among the Executive, MAJOR strides made in strategic planning and vision, a commitment to strong doping control (with demonstrated action), and marked, measurable progress in marketing and IOC recognition. After a tough campaign, there is more unity of purpose and commitment on the part of the Executive than I've seen in my 7 years as a Board member.

There were several landmark decisions made at this year's IPF Congress. In terms of a constitutional change, the IPF established a Women's Committee to provide input to the Executive and the Congress on issues that are important to women. The first chair of the committee will be Eva Speth from Germany. Eva is a longtime competitor and has worked in many different capacities in both the European Powerlifting Federation and the IPF. The previously established Athlete's and Coach's Commissions were formalized in policy to facilitate the input of the actually competitors in deciding the direction of the IPF. Perhaps the longest running and most controversial issue was related to the bench press shirt. Each year, since the early 90's this and related issues have been discussed with little resolution, or at least satisfaction on the part of the parties. This year, the sentiments of the athletes was heard: no advance in shirt technology but no rollback either. Rather, the Congress voted overwhelmingly to maintain the shirt as it is. The Executive agreed to follow this up by asking the Congress' permission to initiate contracts with the equipment manufacturers to accept and confirm current equipment for a period of 3 years to assure both the stability of equipment and records. It was also discussed to limit changes to the rules regarding the bench press such that the athletes may adapt to current conditions and the referees might become proficient at officiating to a consistent standard. To this end, the IPF will provide referee seminars which will be necessary for recertification as a official each 4 year period.

Finally, it must be mentioned that the very distinguished and accomplished athletes, Hiroyuki Isagawa and Raija Koskinen were inducted into the IPF Hall of Fame. Norbert Wallauch, in recognition of his years of service to powerlifting and the IPF was the official inducted.

The Arnold Fitness Expo is coming!!! This February 29 to March 2, USAPL will debut as the powerlifting vendor at the Arnold Fitness Expo. As most of you know, we will have four contest over three days including the Quest American Invitational, an unequipped championships, and professional bench press and deadlift events. The athletes have been invited and many have responded. If you have been offered a team slot fot his competition, please respond immediately by sending in your entry and athlete locator. This will be a great event and it is a great opportunity for USA Powerlifting and the IPF.

Since this is my last message of the year, it is worth recapping some. There have been some highs and lows this year. Our pace of meets is slightly down over previous years. But what is interesting is the the individual competitons appear to be getting larger for the most part. As powerlifting is about competition, the larger the meets, the better the competition. We are all hopeful that this marks a return to the era where athletes battled in every class and had a real sense of accomplishment from winning. This is in contrast to the "one man (or woman), one gold" trend that we had seen developing over recent years. We have appointed a new drug testing committee as to assure that we improve our aggressive stance on out of competition testing. This also mirrors the IPF efforts in this area, and is supported the the recent strengthing of the World Antidoping Code.

Our National Teams continue to do well internationally, with great success in the Master's and Juniors divisions as well as the bench press. The Open Teams continue with consistent performance and are enjoying the participation of both Master and Junior lifters who remain cometitive at the Open level.

To close, I have had the opportunity to meet with another of the founders of the ADFPA this past weekend. Robert Crawford hosted some of the first drug free meets in Alabama that lead to the incorporation of the ADFPA in that state in 1981. His return to our platform marks another of our pioneers coming home and we are honored by his confidence in our mission and our having continued on the path set layed out for us by these visionaries. Thank you again.

Have a happy holiday season and enjoy a stronger 2008.

LJM