Powerlifting is a strength sport practised in different weight categories and disciplines. Athletes need to complete three controlled heavy lifts designed to measure a different area of human strength, known as squat, bench press, and deadlift.

Athletes in Equipped Powerlifting move massive amounts of weight in high-tech supportive gear such as suits, and knee wraps to aid their lifting and protect against injury.

Powerlifting may look similar to the Olympic sport of Weightlifting. The weights lifted in Olympic Weightlifting are lower due to the difference in technique (two ballistic lifts overhead) and absence of supportive gear, similar to the Classic/Raw discipline in Powerlifting where lifters compete without supportive gear.

The best of the three attempts in each discipline will count for the total. The result will be multiplied with the Wilks Score (body weight calculator).

After multiplication with the Wilks score, the competitor who lifts the maximum combined weight with the best lift across all 3 disciplines, will be declared the winner.

- No qualifying rounds. All events will have straight finals.

- Athletes compete in a round system, starting with the lowest weight and finishing with the highest weight for each of the three categories.

- The best three athletes after the Deadlift competition will receive Gold, Silver and Bronze.

Participants compete as individuals. They select their weights and attempt their lifts in the following contest order: squat, bench press and deadlift. Once all athletes complete their three lifts in squat, the lifts for bench press begins. Similarly, athletes only begin their deadlift attempts after completion of bench press.

Squat: The lift starts with the lifter standing erect and the bar loaded with weights resting on the lifter's shoulders. At the referee's command the lift begins. The lifter bends the knees and lowers into a squatting position with the hips slightly below parallel position. The lifter returns to an erect position. At the referees command, the bar is returned to the rack and the lift is completed.

Bench Press: With the back resting on the bench, the lifter takes the loaded bar at arm's length. At the referee's command the powerlifter lowers the bar to the chest. On the chest the bar must be hold motionless until the referee give the “press” signal. The powerlifter pushes the weight up until the arms are straight and the elbows locked. Then the referee will call 'rack' and the lift is completed as the weight is returned to the rack.

Deadlift: The deadlift is often described as the king of the powerlifting disciplines. In the deadlift the athlete grasps the loaded bar which is resting on the platform floor. The powerlifter pulls the weights off the floor and assumes a standing erect position. The knees must be locked and shoulders back with the weight held in the lifters’ grip. At the referees command the bar will be returned to the floor under the control of the lifter.

Athletes compete in a round system, which means that the lifter with the lowest weight to be lifted will start the round; and the lifter with the highest weight will finish the round.

At the end of the competition, the best attempt of each discipline will count for the total, with the use of the aforementioned IPF Points.

While pure strength is extremely important, strategy also comes into play. Prior to starting each discipline, each athlete must nominate their weight for their first lift of each of the three disciplines. 3 Minutes prior to the start of each group, the lifter can change the weight of the first attempt. The 3rd attempt in the last discipline (deadlift) can be changed twice.

An opening failure piles the pressure on as the lifter cannot reduce the weight on the bar for subsequent attempts. Three failures in any discipline results in automatic disqualification.

In the final round, the deadlift, lifters will attempt weights which will not only put them into medal-winning positions, but also put pressure on their rivals. It can lead to thrilling finishes, with athletes putting it all on the line on their final attempt.

3 referees judge if an attempt is good or not.

A majority of 2:1 is necessary to have a good attempt. If at least 2 judges red-light an attempt, then the lift is deemed invalid and does not count towards the weight lifted by the competitor.

At The World Games, a body weight calculator is applied for the competition. The bodyweight will be in calculation with a fixed multiplier. The lower the weight of the athlete, the higher the multiplier to even things out. At the end of each competition (weight category) the total lifted weight will be multiplied with the multiplier of the lifter to give the final score.

An athlete who weighs more than another can lift higher total weight, but still finish second if the multiplier score is lower than a different athlete that weighs less and lifts less, but has a higher multiplier score.

In IPF World Championships the winner of each category is the person with the highest total in kilograms.

Heavyweight Men

1. Sergii BILYI (UKR)
2. Dmitry INZARKIN (RUS)
3. Dmytro SEMENENKO (UKR)

Heavyweight Women

1. Ana CASTELLAIN (BRA)
2. Priscilla RIBIC (USA)
3. Yenifer CANELON (VEN)

Lightweight Men

1. Sergey FEDOSIENKO (RUS)
2. Hassan EL BELGHITTI (FRA)
3. Charles OKPOKO (USA)

Lightweight Women

1. Natalia SALNIKOVA (RUS)
2. Yukako FUKUSHIMA (JPN)
3. Wei-Ling CHEN (TPE)

Middleweight Men

1. Jaroslaw OLECH (POL)
2. Volodymyr RYSIEV (UKR)
3. Andrii NANIEV (UKR)

Middleweight Women

1. Larysa SOLOVIOVA (UKR)
2. Anna RYZHKOVA (RUS)
3. Hui-Chun WU (TPE)

Super Heavyweight Men

1. Oleksii ROKOCHIY (UKR)
2. Joseph CAPPELLINO (ISV)
3. Nurlan YESHMAKHANOV (KAZ)

Super Heavyweight Women

1. Bonica LOUGH (USA)
2. Tetyana MELNYK (UKR)
3. Liane BLYN (USA)

Heavyweight Men

1. Vadym DOVGANYUK (UKR)
2. Anibal COIMBRA (LUX)
3. Konstantin LEBEDKO (RUS)

Heavyweight Women

1. Ana CASTELLAIN (BRA)
2. Yulia MEDVEDEVA (RUS)
3. Priscilla RIBIC (USA)

Lightweight Men

1. Sergey FEDOSIENKO (RUS)
2. Sergey GLADKIKH (RUS)
3. Tsung-Ting HSIEH (TPE)

Lightweight Women

1. Natalia SALNIKOVA (RUS)
2. Wei-Ling CHEN (TPE)
3. Yukako FUKUSHIMA (JPN)

Middleweight Men

1. Jaroslaw OLECH (POL)
2. Kjell Egil BAKKELUND (NOR)
3. Jose CASTILLO (ECU)

Middleweight Women

1. Larysa SOLOVIOVA (UKR)
2. Tetyana AKHMAMYETYEVA (UKR)
3. Hui-Chun WU (TPE)

Super Heavyweight Men

1. Andrey KONOVALOV (RUS)
2. Viktor TESTSOV (UKR)
3. Carl Yngvar CHRISTENSEN (NOR)

Super Heavyweight Women

1. Olena KOZLOVA (UKR)
2. Maria Catharina Adriana STRIK (NED)
3. Svetlana TSVETKOVA (RUS)

Heavyweight Men

1. Sergiy PEVNEV (UKR)
2. Jacek WIAK (POL)
3. Anibal COIMBRA (LUX)

Heavyweight Women

1. Larysa SOLOVIOVA (UKR)
2. Antonietta ORSINI (ITA)
3. Priscilla RIBIC (USA)

Lightweight Men

1. Tsung-Ting HSIEH (TPE)
2. Arkadiy SHALOKHA (UKR)
3. Hassan EL BELGHITTI (FRA)

Lightweight Women

1. Wei-Ling CHEN (TPE)
2. Yukako FUKUSHIMA (JPN)
3. Sri HARTANI (INA)

Middleweight Men

1. Jaroslaw OLECH (POL)
2. Andrii NANIEV (UKR)
3. Jan WEGIERA (POL)

Middleweight Women

1. Noviana SARI (INA)
2. Tetiana PRYMENCHUK (UKR)
3. Zhanna IVANOVA (UKR)

Super Heavyweight Men

1. Michael TUCHSCHERER (USA)
2. Oleksandr SHEPEL (UKR)
3. Valeriy KARPOV (UKR)

Super Heavyweight Women

1. Iryna YAVORDSKA (UKR)
2. Jessica O'DONNELL (USA)
3. Ya-wen CHANG (TPE)

Heavyweight Men

1. Nikolay SUSLOV (RUS)
2. Brian SIDERS (USA)
3. Ivan FREYDUN (UKR)

Heavyweight Women

1. Marina KUDINOVA (RUS)
2. Galina KARPOVA (RUS)
3. Iryna YAVORDSKA (UKR)

Lightweight Men

1. Ravil KAZAKOV (RUS)
2. Tsung-Ting HSIEH (TPE)
3. Dariusz WSZOLA (POL)

Lightweight Women

1. Olesya LAFINA (RUS)
2. Olena DMYTRUK (UKR)
3. Wei-Ling CHEN (TPE)

Middleweight Men

1. Andrey TARASENKO (RUS)
2. Victor FURAZHKIN (RUS)
3. Jan WEGIERA (POL)

Middleweight Women

1. Larysa SOLOVIOVA (UKR)
2. Priscilla RIBIC (USA)
3. Nadejda MALYUGINA (UZB)

Heavyweight Men

1. Daisuke MIDOTE (JPN)
2. Brad GILLINGHAM (USA)
3. Jorgen LJUNGBERG (SWE)

Heavyweight Women

1. Svetlana MIKLASHEVITCH (RUS)
2. Nataliya PAYUSOVA (RUS)
3. Chen-Yeh CHAO (TPE)

Lightweight Men

1. Alexey SIVOKON (KAZ)
2. Konstantin PAVLOV (RUS)
3. Mikhail ANDRYUKHIN (RUS)

Lightweight Women

1. Raija KOSKINEN (FIN)
2. Wei-Ling CHEN (TPE)
3. Yukako FUKUSHIMA (JPN)

Middleweight Men

1. Victor FURAZHKIN (RUS)
2. Andrey TARASENKO (RUS)
3. Serguey MOR (RUS)

Middleweight Women

1. Marina KUDINOVA (RUS)
2. Irina ABRAMOVA (RUS)
3. Pirjo SAVOLA (FIN)

Heavyweight Men

1. Sturla DAVIDSEN (NOR)
2. Carl CHRISTOFFERSEN (NOR)
3. Janne TOIVANEN (FIN)

Heavyweight Women

1. Lisa SJOSTRAND (SWE)
2. Chia-Sui LEE (TPE)
3. Chen-Yeh CHAO (TPE)

Lightweight Men

1. Alexey SIVOKON (KAZ)
2. Sutrisno DARIMIN (INA)
3. Chun-Hsiung HU (TPE)

Lightweight Women

1. Li-Min LIN (TPE)
2. Raija KOSKINEN (FIN)
3. Nadezhda MIR (KAZ)

Middleweight Men

1. Haryanto TRI (INA)
2. Dmitriy SOLOVIOV (UKR)
3. Jan WILCZYNSKI (POL)

Middleweight Women

1. Carrie BOUDREAU (USA)
2. Ingeborg MARX (BEL)
3. Irene FRANGI (ARG)

Heavyweight Men

1. Gene BELL (USA)
2. Viktor NALEIKIN (UKR)
3. Brian REYNOLDS (GBR)

Heavyweight Women

1. Cathy MILLEN (NZL)
2. Tammy DIANDE (USA)
3. Shelby CORSON (USA)

Lightweight Men

1. Gerard MCNAMARA (IRL)
2. Rodney HYPOLITE (GBR)
3. Sergey ZHURAVLLIEV (RUS)

Lightweight Women

1. Claudine COGNACQ (DEN)
2. Raija KOSKINEN (FIN)
3. Gema CHRISTOBAL (ESP)

Middleweight Men

1. Frank SCHRAMM (GER)
2. His YI-CHING (TPE)
3. Walt FORSEY (CAN)

Middleweight Women

1. Carrie BOUDREAU (USA)
2. Beate AMDAHL (NOR)
3. Ingeborg MARX (BEL)

Heavyweight Men

1. Tony STEVENS (GBR)
2. Jonny MELANDER (SWE)
3. Jean-Pierre BRULOIS (FRA)

Heavyweight Women

1. Liz ODENDAAL (NED)
2. Sumita LAHA (IND)
3. Judith OAKES (GBR)

Lightweight Men

1. Ventje MALE (INA)
2. Hiroyuki ISAGAWA (JPN)
3. Nanda TELAMBANUA (INA)

Lightweight Women

1. Anna-Liisa PRINKKALA (FIN)
2. Hisako YOSHIDA (JPN)
3. Rekha MAL (IND)

Middleweight Men

1. Alexander AUSBY (USA)
2. Floreano DOMENICI (ITA)
3. Michael BARBER (USA)

Middleweight Women

1. Joy BURT (CAN)
2. Silvana BOLLMANN (GER)
3. Jenny HUNTER (GBR)

Heavyweight Men

1. Tony STEVENS (GBR)
2. Dave CALDWELL (GBR)
3. John NEIGHBOUR (GBR)

Lightweight Men

1. Hiroyuki ISAGAWA (JPN)
2. Dave MANNERING (GBR)
3. Eddie PENGELLY (GBR)

Middleweight Men

1. Claudio ARDINI (ITA)
2. Eddie COPPIN (BEL)
3. Glen WASZKIEL (AUS)

100kg Men

1. Jim CASH (USA)
2. Fred HATFIELD (USA)

110kg Men

1. Scott PALMER (USA)
2. Gene KUNIT (USA)

52kg Men

1. Hideaki INABE (JPN)
2. Don MACVICAR (USA)

56kg Men

1. Gary HUNNICUT (USA)

60kg Men

1. Ito CHOKICHI (JPN)
2. George HUMMEL (USA)
3. Mark SHIJO (USA)

75kg Men

1. Mauro DI PASQUALE (CAN)
2. Ray NEELEY (USA)

82.5kg Men

1. Jim GRUDZIEN (USA)
2. Dennis WRIGHT (USA)

90kg Men

1. Walter THOMAS (USA)
2. Jim LEN (USA)

Super Heavyweight Men

1. Doyle KENNEDY (USA)
2. Dave SHAW (USA)

• Hassan EL BELGHITTI(FRA): 2. in TWG2017, 3. in TWG2009
• Yukako FUKUSHIMA(JPN): 2. in TWG2017, 3. in TWG2013, 2. in TWG2009, 3. in TWG2001
• Jaroslaw OLECH(POL): 1. in TWG2017, 1. in TWG2013, 1. in TWG2009
• Tsung-Ting HSIEH(TPE): 4. in TWG2017, 3. in TWG2013, 1. in TWG2009, 2. in TWG2005
• Larysa SOLOVIOVA(UKR): 1. in TWG2017, 1. in TWG2013, 1. in TWG2009, 1. in TWG2005
• Kjell Egil BAKKELUND(NOR): 2. in TWG2013
• Ian BELL(ISV): 5. in TWG2017
• Sofiane BELKESIR(FRA): 4. in TWG2017
• David COIMBRA(BRA): 8. in TWG2017
• Marte ELVERUM(NOR): 4. in TWG2017
• Rhaea STINN(CAN): 5. in TWG2017
• Johanna AGUINAGA(ECU): 9. in TWG2017
• Franklin LEON(ECU): 5. in TWG2017
• Yi-Chun LIN(TPE): 7. in TWG2017
• Maria Luisa VASQUEZ(PUR): 4. in TWG2017
• Volodymyr RYSIEV(UKR): 2. in TWG2017
• Paul DOUGLAS(ISV): 6. in TWG2017
• Cicera TAVARES(BRA): 6. in TWG2017
• Vilma OCHOA VARGAS(ECU): 4. in TWG2017
• Joseph CAPPELLINO(ISV): 2. in TWG2017
• Erica BUENO(BRA): 7. in TWG2017
• Ankie TIMMERS(NED): 7. in TWG2017