Marilia’s Powerlifting Blog

This Sunday we will have the Referee Qualification Test here in S£o Paulo. I have reviewed and updated the translated version of the latest IPF Rulebook, so I should be ok. I don’t feel ok, however. It has been years since I am not in the “student side of a test and, honestly, I am not sure what to really give the proper attention concerning the many details specified in the rules. Yesterday, for example, we were measuring our platform. We were in doubt how to fit in into the space available for the next meet. Gilson then asked me: “what is the smallest and largest allowed area for a platform? I had no idea: “All lifts shall be carried out on a platform measuring between 2.5 m x 2.5 m minimum and 4.0 m x 4.0 m maximum, says the rulebook, which I had translated days before. I had given this zero attention at the time. Oh, boy: 

Practical implications have already made their way into my training. The requirement for feet, buttocks and head placement while executing the Bench Press, for example, have made me produce a small platform for my feet. Otherwise, they won’t be flat on the floor or my ass will raise above the bench. I have many disagreement with the new (and some of the old) rules. I believe the new requirement for the command “press when the bar is motionless on the lifter’s chest (on the Bench Press) is anti-physiological and will allow a lot of manipulating … political, personal and otherwise unsportsly attitudes. First, the “mental count of two seconds for the chief referee is at least ridiculously subjective. Second, the lifter may not necessarily hear the command. Anyone who has been to a very disputed round knows how loud the cries around the lifter are. Actually, quite funny if you pay attention: some people are yelling “go, go, go!, others “easy, calm down!, other “focus!, others “confirm! Confirm! Stop the ****ing bar! and finally others “c’mon, explode, lift the ****ing bar!. If you really try to obey them all, it is pretty schizophrenic. 

Anyhow, I gotta study. 

Today some of us at the Gym (GCA) filled out the form applying for the “International Athlete Fellowship. This is a Federal program with somewhat diffuse objectives. According to the official website, its main objectives are first, “to guarantee personal maintenance for high performance athletes presently not being sponsored and, second, to “invest primarily on olymic or para-olympic sports in order to form, maintain and renew the pool of athletes representing the country in international events. 

Some general criteria apply that are known, such as Olympic over non-Olympic; woman over man; young over older, etc. However, I feel the most significant criteria are not even being addressed: the actual economic need and cultural impact. Nowhere is the applicant’s income or family income evaluated; nowhere are social impact of the sport or of the institution applying for the fellowship data collected. 

I am a powerlifter. I am applying in the master age group category, where I rank second at the National Level and 19^th at the IPF list (for Bench Press). My chances are not very large. But what if I am awarded? It is something around US$700,00/month. It buys a lot of whey and a few tickets to travel abroad in meets outside the country. However, not receiving it did not prevent me from going to Montevideo to compete. And has never prevented me from buying my favorite Elite Dymatize Whey. 

I am not a rich person, but I have a higher degree, a Ph.D. and I can manage and pay my bills (and buy whey, BCAA, etc.). My brothers and sisters at the GCA (my Gym), however, do not share my luck. The Gym is located in the middle of one of the biggest slums in the country. Most of the athletes there don’t dream of ever making US$700.00 as salary in their lives. For them, it would make all the difference from being an unrecognized talent to, maybe, a World Champion. Especially the young ones. 

I have decided that, if granted the fellowship (which I doubt), I will share it with two of the kids we think are especially talented and especially victimized by economic hardship. I hope I get it.