Topic: Frustrating USAW news on BOD Agenda RE: American Records

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

It appears the USAW BOD is going to consider dropping the American standards based on the agenda from their website: USAW BOD AGENDA

I don't understand the drive to erase the American records and start over. In my view it lessens their meaning to the point where the records are just silly. One thing people seemed to focus on the last time I fought this decision was that some of the all time records, and perhaps the American standards based on them, were done in times before there was drug testing or were caught using during their career. But, if you look at the Golden Standard rankings of all the American records across all the time periods, the vast majority were set by lifters competing in the modern, highly drug tested era and never tested positive. Several of the real records were broken in the 90's and I believe several more would have fallen except for the fact that the weight classes changed and the records then became meaningless since lifters could set records with inferior lifts. In fact, all the pre-testing records I think would have been broken by now if not for the weight class changes. I cleaned a new senior record at the 2006 Sr Nationals and barely missed the jerk after only training hard for about twelve weeks after an extended period of almost complete layoff. So why would we think that any of the records can't be broken? Why do we have to lower them?

I say lets not throw the baby out with the bathwater. Shane Hamman is #1 on the all time list for total, someone who just retired! Golden Standard rankings of American records. If he could set the highest ranked clean and jerk in American history under the testing he did, then why would anyone think that another athlete can't do the same? We don't need to the lower the standards for our current lifters. On the contrary, we should make breaking the real American records worth some money so it means something to the lifters. Put a $20,000 reward up for breaking them. Then how long do you think it will take for records to start dropping? Right now, the athlete gets exactly $0 from setting a senior American record so it seems they aren't worth much to the USAW, and the idea of dropping the standards seems to reinforce that perspective.

[Matt Erdman]

I can't see any possible benefit from that. How do we improve our lighter weight classes? By lowering the bar???

Wittmer isn't far from the 94 standards. They need to stay.

[Jesse Reynolds]

Chirs,

Could you show me the formula on how to calculate the Golden Standard and explain to me how it realtes better than sinclair?

Jesse

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

Jesse,

The USAW didn't use the Sinclair formula to create the American standards but I used the Golden Standard for one of my proposed solutions to the issue for several reasons. The Sinclair formulas are meant to be used for ranking totals, not the snatch and clean and jerk. The Golden Standard has separate formula for each. The Sinclair formulas are recalculated every four years and are not meant to be applied over time. The Golden Standard is based on around 100 years results in the sport of weightlifting and is designed to allow accurate comparisons of lifts done at different bodyweights, regardless of time. The Golden Standard is also more accurate, primarily due to the large base of data it is derived from but not entirely so.

Standardization and Validation of the Body Weight Adjustment Regression Equations in Olympic Weightlifting
Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 2002, 16(1)
2002 National Strength & Conditioning Association
Heikki Kauhannen, Paavo V. Komi, and Keijo Hakkinen

Here is a Golden Standard calculator. You can look at the formulas inside the spreadsheet:

Golden Standard Calculator

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

Well, they did it. It seems unbelievable to me that the BOD felt it necessary to re-open this issue so soon after we settled and doesn't have better things to do than lower our American Records. It is indisputably in violation of several rules. I will be filing my grievance again as soon as I cross-check it with the new rulebook, in the next few weeks. If any real American Record Holders would like to co-sign the grievance with me, please let me know.

Thanks

[Markus Demeglio]

So what are they replacing the American Standards with?

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

Best lifts done in drug tested meets since 1998.

[Markus Demeglio]

Best lifts done in drug tested meets since 1998.

If thats the case and the following is true:

But, if you look at the Golden Standard rankings of all the American records across all the time periods, the vast majority were set by lifters competing in the modern, highly drug tested era and never tested positive.

Then arent most of the records going to stay current?