World Para Powerlifting, under the governance of the International Paralympic Committee, acts as the international federation for the sport of para powerlifting. Open to female and male athletes with eight eligible physical impairments, athletes compete in one sport class, across ten different weight categories per gender. In the Paralympic sport program since 1960, the sport is practiced in over 130 countries, across all regions, and is considered the fastest growing para-sport.
Para powerlifting referees play a primary role in competition, as they are judging each athlete’s lift against a set protocol. An athlete must receive a “Good Lift” judgment from the majority of the referees in order for their attempt to be considered valid.
The organization gathers a community of approximately 500 technical officials from more than 60 countries.
“Hub” platform keeps referees active and engaged
With the 2020 competition calendar being directly impacted by the COV|D-19 pandemic, referees, like many others, were at home. In April 2020, World Para Powerlifting launched a learning platform aptly named the “Technical Official Hub”. This “Hub” is a centralized area for communications providing educational materials and activities.
“The Technical Official Hub is not only an information and education database, it’s a center for professional effectiveness and development,”
explains technical official, Ekaterina Lisova from Russia.
“Hub” delivers a substantial and qualitative source of interactive activities
The platform provides interactive activities on various technical and non-technical subjects. Referees can follow webinars, access videos and photo archives, play quizzes, consult officiating guides or discuss with their colleagues or organization members.
“Thanks to the Technical Official Hub creation, tech officials can now continually improve their professional skills and knowledge, even from their homes. A large variety of activities allows innovative study, asking for advice, expressing opinions on controversial issues, sharing of ideas and exchanging experiences. It’s just a great opportunity for technical officials from the whole world to keep in touch and feel like a part of the community that we call our World Para Powerlifting family,”
shares Ekaterina
Webinars empower the technology
Helping their athletes, coaches, and referees take full advantage of technology, the Para Powerlifting Organization ran webinars and interactive courses on how to best use Dartfish. These webinars and courses were actually translated into English, Spanish, Arabic and Portuguese, creating an encounter with global impact.
A few simple guidelines help them use and adapt to the technology more easily
Quizzes improve officiating reliability
Using Dartfish’s built-in video functionality, monthly “Judge Ascension” quizzes have been created. The referees consider tagged videos (filmed from technical positions in competitions in recent years) and submit their judgment. They then receive immediate feedback on the correctness of their call, as determined by the Officials Advisory Group, made up of the best technical officials in the sport. Since April 2020, “Judge the Elevator” activities have been viewed more than 20,000 times.
Activities like “Judge the Lift” quizzes are supporting the referees in having consistent interpretation and application of the Technical Rules and Regulations, which is crucially important ahead of Paralympic Games’ qualification events and the Games themselves.
“Learning is a lifelong process and it continues for a technical official long after a course or between competitions,”
states Dillon Richardson, World Para Powerlifting Performance and Development Manager.
“The Hub is helping the Technical Officials train and prepare for a competition like the athletes do,”
Richardson adds
Everything is done to keep athletes and referees competitive
Para Powerlifting is the first Paralympic international federation which has organized an Online World Cup Series.
With 25 participants from 11 countries, the first online event was a resounding success, paving the way for a whole series of virtual competitions. Concerning the officiating, athletes submitted videos and then WPPO referees judged them within an X day period.
“The Online World Cup was very interesting and exciting. It helped us athletes, to not think about the pandemic. This event will be forever in my heart,”
stated Muratova, who competed from her hometown, Lakinsk.
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