History

The long tradition of Powerlifting in the Paralympics began at the 1964 Paralympic Games in Tokyo under the name "Weightlifting", where only lifters with a spinal cord injury were allowed to compete. Over the next few years, Powerlifting underwent a major transition to include other disability groups and incorporate rules identical to those of Powerlifting competitions for able-bodied. During the General Assembly in Barcelona in 1992, the decision was made to include only "Powerlifting" in the Paralympics rather than "Weightlifting".

The sport has since experienced rapid development as worldwide awareness and interest has improved. At the Barcelona 1992 Paralympic Games, 25 countries participated in the Powerlifting competitions. This number more than doubled at the Atlanta 1996 Paralympic Games, with 58 countries participating. Since 2000, that number has risen to a total worldwide membership of 115 countries on five continents. Powerlifting is one of the world's fastest growing Paralympic sports with more than 5,500 male and female lifters in the ranking lists.

Powerlifting has also reached out in terms of developing the women's event and has, since the first participation of female lifters in the Sydney 2000 Paralympics, dramatically increased in recent years to approximately 1,250 female lifters within 60 countries. It is evident that there is more room for further development in Powerlifting as the athletes are consistently improving their performance. World or regional records are constantly broken, and this is very exciting for the growth of the sport.