The following rule changes take effect January 1, 2017.







Stationary Cards at National Competitions

Starting in 2017, USA Weightlifting will align itself with the IWF method of marshaling. This means that the cards will be stationary at the Marshall table in the order of the start number. However, in the event of a failure of the scoring equipment, the competition will revert to a manual clock and shuffled cards after 3 minutes have elapsed in order to ensure the competition continues.



The 90kg and +90kg Category (75kg and +75kg at Youth)

Already contested at the 2016 American Open in Orlando, the 90kg and +90kg category become active according to the IWF rules. We highly encourage local meets to immediately use these new categories. At international Youth competitions, the +69kg category is replaced by the 75kg and +75kg categories, since we already contest these at the National Youth Championships, there is no change domestically. A reminder that registration for National Events opens January 2, 2017. You can view qualifying totals for the 90kg, +90kg and all other categories here:

http://www.teamusa.org/usa-weightlifting/resources/qualifying-totals



The Removal of the Bodyweight Advantage.

From January 1, 2017, the winner when two athletes take equal weight will be the athlete who successfully completed the lift first, rather than he or she who weighs less. The idea of the IWF is to encourage the athlete to take 1kg more for the win.

For example, if Jane Smith takes 100kg weighing 74.23kg and Julie Kilo takes 100kg weighing 73.42kg, and Smith takes it first she will win despite being heavier. Up until now, Kilo would have won because she was lighter.



The 20kg/15kg Rule becomes the 20kg/20kg Rule

From January 1, 2017, the current 20kg/15kg rule becomes 20kg for both genders. This means that the athlete must open within 20kg of their entry total, in other words their opening snatch and opening clean and jerk must add up to their entry total less 20kg, regardless of gender.

If you have any questions or require any clarifications please don't hesitate to reach out to usaw@usaweightlifting.org.