Qualification

ABPU members qualify at the same competitions that BPU members lift at. We expect all members of both federations to lift side by side and afford the same respect and support as they would in separate organisations.

Regional Qualifiers & Nationals

At the beginning of the year, we have “qualifiers”. These competitions are to qualify you for the British Championships which are also held at the same time as the BPU. This is the gateway to World Championships. Now, for the ABPU members we have separate qualifying totals for RAW, single ply, classic and multi ply classes in full power, bench only and deadlift only which you will find under Qualifying totals on this ABPU section of the site. If you wish to compete at Nationals you MUST reach the ABPU qualifying totals as in order to qualify. You will ONLY get an invitation to the British Championships if you qualify – there will be NO exceptions to this.

Other ways to qualify are if you are already reining ABPU British Champion, then you already go through to next ABPU British Championships. If you win at European Championships (either AWPC or WPC) you then qualify for the next years European Championships. If you win your class at World Championships then ultimately you do not have to lift again to the following years world championships to defend your title.

Qualifying for Internationals

For AWPC or WPC Europeans you only need to qualify at one of our regional competitions. European Championships, although daunting are a great place to start your international lifting career as although you are competing against some of the biggest names in Europe there is less pressure and intensity than at the worlds. We encourage our lifters to experience a AWPC or WPC (if you hit the qualifying total) European Championships before going onto Worlds so they know what to expect.

To qualify for World Championships you MUST place in the top 2 in your class at the Nationals OR already reining World or European Champion. If, in the event that the top 2 cannot go then 3rd and 4th places are invited and so on. We are allowed a maximum of 3 in the same class at international but have to keep a place free for those who have already qualified.

XXX This is NOT the case for 2017 AWPC World Championships !! Please note!!

Usually, the top 2 of the British qualify for the same year AWPC Worlds ONLY – However, as the AWPC have moved the dates of the AWPC Worlds 2017 to one week after our British Championships this is unfair to our membership wanting to compete. Therefore a decision was taken to offer the winner of the 2016 British Championships a place at the AWPC Worlds 2017 and then offer the top 2 highest qualifiers form the qualifiers from Oct 2016 to May 2017 a place at the AWPC Worlds 2017. This was the only way we could think of doing this which would be fair and is ONLY for this year. XXX

We have other internationals during the year and of course if you would like to go then contact Emma Ylitalo-James directly and discuss.

What if I won the British in the ABPU and then make the decision to go to the BPU after that ?

Well, if you make the decision to change to the BPU and can no longer compete ABPU, then you will have to requalify in the BPU as it is a different federation. The same if you win the Europeans in the AWPC, then you will have to requalify under the BPU to lift and the WPC Europeans and the same for the Worlds. You are invited back to “defend your title” so if you switch from ABPU to BPU etc then you are no longer “defending your title”. 

What you can’t do………

Well we have had people who perceive themselves to be “elite” in the past and have expected and demanded that they should just qualify for Nationals and also internationals. This is not how we work. Every lifter puts a massive amount of work, determination and commitment into qualification and lifting and no one is “elite” in our federation. Effectively everyone is the same when they stand on platform and we dislike and do not allow “fast tracking” of athletes unless there is exceptional circumstance which has to be put to the federation owners/directors.