British Disabled Lifters Association

Background

Weightlifting  was one of the original Paralympic sports dating back to the 2nd Paralympic Games in 1964. However, in 1988 the sport undertook a major transformation when it included Powerlifting as a competition (with similar rules to non-disabled lifting). 25 countries participated in the IPC Powerlifting competition at the 1992 Paralympic Games in Barcelona. In 1996 the Atlanta Paralympics only had within it an IPC Powerlifting competition, where the number of counties that participated doubled to 58. The number of participating countries increased again to 71 in the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games.

Powerlifting has traditionally been for men only. However, Sydney 2000 Paralympics saw the introduction of the first women's competition. Women’s participation has more than tripled in the past three years from 15 countries to 48 countries on the ranking list. At the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games there were women lifters from 29 countries competing.

Unfortunately, the organisational structure for Powerlifting within Great Britain has suffered over the last few years as a result of the changing climate and the move towards mainstreaming disability sport.

In 1997 Sport England supported the establishment of the “British Disabled Lifters Federation” to bring together the entire National Disability Sports Organisations with an aim to consolidate the delivery of IPC Powerlifting with in Great Britain. The members of this organisation were:-
British Weightlifters Association for Disabled (BWAD)
British Amputee & Les Autres Sports Association (BALASA)
British Disabled Power Lifters Association
Cerebral Palsy Sport (CP Sport)

Two years later in 1999, UK Sport and Sport England facilitated a consultation process, between National Disability Sports Organisations and BWLA, with an aim to moving forward with the agenda to mainstream Powerlifting for disabled lifters.

Resulting from the consultation process an Annual General Meeting was held on the 25 February 2001 to establish the British Disabled Lifters Association (BDLA), a sub committee within BWLA. All National Disability Sports Organizations including Special Olympics had agreed to form an umbrella organization responsible to BWLA for lifting for disabled people.

It is envisaged that BDLA  will play a full and meaningful role in the development and delivery of the WCPP. Current members of BDLA are professionals within the field of sport and bring with them valuable skills, knowledge and experience. The challenge is to ensure that the current and future structure within Powerlifting develops into a dynamic, professional, responsive and forward striving organisation.

 BWLA will continue to support the work of BDLA and is committed to the inclusion of all disabled athletes within it.

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