USAW Releases 2025 A/B Standards, Issues Clarification on Senior Pan-American and World Championships Qualifying

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COLORADO SPRINGS - Below is a detailed update from the USA Weightlifting Sport Performance Team announcing the 2025 A/B standards and addressing how the mid-year change in IWF weight categories affects qualifying for USAW national teams . Please read all six sections carefully. If questions remain after reading, please contact the Sport Performance Team at usaw@usaweightlifting.org.


For clarity during reading:


TLDR Summary:

  • Click here for the 2025 A/B standards
  • Athletes can only qualify for the Senior Pan-American Championships (PAC) by lifting in current weight categories.
  • Athletes can qualify for the Senior World Championships by lifting in current weight categories or the new bodyweight categories. They are not restricted to only registering a total in a new weight category during Nationals Week in June.
  • The Senior PAC rankings list is based on the percentage of the 2025 A standards in the current bodyweight categories. The USAW Sport Performance Team will work with the athletes who qualify for the team to decide which new bodyweight category they’ll compete in for the competition.
  • For the Senior World Championships, USAW will create a single rankings list that includes both current bodyweight categories and new bodyweight categories. Athletes will qualify based on whichever ranking is their highest percentage of the respective 2025 A standard. IE: If you have a higher percentage as a M73, say 107%, instead of as a M79, say 102%, you’ll be ranked based on the M73 percentage. The USAW Sport Performance Team will then work with the athletes who qualify for the team to decide which new bodyweight category they’ll compete in for the competition.

Current Weight Categories:

Junior & Senior Categories:

Men: 55kg, 61kg, 67kg, 73kg, 81kg, 89kg, 96kg, 102kg, 109kg, +109kg

Women: 45kg, 49kg, 55kg, 59kg, 64kg, 71kg, 76kg, 81kg, 87kg, +87kg


Youth Categories:

Men: 49kg, 55kg, 61kg, 67kg, 73kg, 81kg, 89kg, 96kg, 102kg, +102kg

Women: 40kg, 45kg, 49kg, 55kg, 59kg, 64kg, 71kg, 76kg, 81kg, +81kg


New IWF Weight Categories Effective June 1, 2025:

Junior & Senior Categories:

Men: 60kg, 65kg, 71kg, 79kg, 88kg, 98kg, 110kg, +110kg

Women: 48kg, 53kg, 58kg, 63kg, 69kg, 77kg, 86kg, +86kg


Youth Categories:

Men: 56kg, 60kg, 65kg, 71kg, 79kg, 88kg, 98kg, +98kg

Women: 44kg, 48kg, 53kg, 58kg, 63kg, 69kg, 77kg, +77kg




Point 1: 2025 A/B standards for the CURRENT bodyweight categories

[Click here to view 2025 A/B standards]

The USAW Sport Performance Team worked with statisticians to develop the A standards for the current bodyweight categories. Please see the Selection Procedure Policy to see the full process used to develop the A/B standards. As a reminder, USAW sets A standards annually based on the average of twelfth place of the IWF rankings for the prior three years for each weight category and gender.


In 2024, result totals in the non-Olympic bodyweight categories were noticeably lower than result totals in the Olympic bodyweight categories, especially in the twelfth place ranking for each non-Olympic bodyweight category. To account for this material performance differential between Olympic and non-Olympic bodyweight categories in 2024, we worked with a statistician to adjust our approach to calculating the 2025 Senior A standards. 


To calculate the average of twelfth place in the non-Olympic weight categories, we used the running average of Q-points of the adjacent Olympic categories (further explained below at Example 1A). In bodyweight categories with less than two adjacent Olympic categories (the lightest and heaviest weight categories), we used the mean of the Q-points for the closest Olympic weight bodyweight category. The Q-point calculation for each non-Olympic bodyweight category was then used to produce a total (Example 1B).


For the Olympic bodyweight categories, we used the 12th place total for 2024, dropped the 12th place from 2021, and averaged the three remaining years; 2022, 2023, and 2024.


Example 1A:

  • The average of 12th place in 2022, 2023, and 2024 in the Olympic 59 kg category was 218 kg. A 218 kg total in the 59 kg category equals 307.765 Q-points.
  • The average of 12th place in 2022, 2023, and 2024 in the Olympic 71 kg category was 235 kg and equals 303.546 Q-points.
  • To find the Q-points for the 2025 64 kg A standard, the 59 kg category Q-points and 71 kg category Q-points were averaged, equaling 305.656 Q points.
  • For a 64 kg athlete, these Q points equal a 226.01 kg total. Thus, the USAW 64 kg senior A standard is 226 kg.

Example 1B:

  • In the case of categories that did not have two adjacent Olympic categories, we used the mean of all Q-points, and the Q-points of the next closest Olympic Category. 
  • For example with the men’s 55 kg bodyweight category, the mean of the ten men’s Q-points equals 443.812, and the Q-points of the men’s 61 kg category equals 448.980. The average of these two categories equals 446.396
  • This Q-point total for the men’s 55 kg thus equals 254.5 or a 255 kg total.
  • This method was also used for the women’s 87 kg and men’s 109 kg categories due to the difficulty in establishing a Q-point value for the women’s +87 kg and men’s +109 kg bodyweight categories.



Point 2: USAW created the remaining 2025 A/B standards for CURRENT bodyweight categories based on the senior A standards established in Point 1

USAW then applied our published method of determining senior B standards (95% of the respective A standard) and all of the remaining A and B standards.

  • Senior B: 95% of Senior A standard
  • Junior A: 90% of Senior A standard
  • Junior B: 85% of Senior A standard
  • Youth A: 80% of Senior A standard
  • Youth B: 75% of Senior A standard
  • U15 standard: 70% of Senior A (new for this year)


Point 3: 2025 A/B standards for the NEW bodyweight categories

A and B standards for new categories were created using the following method:


A/B standards for the new bodyweight categories were created by using the calculated 2025 A standard from Point 1 and working with statisticians. 


  • A weighted average of Q-points between current bodyweight categories was used to determine Q-points for the new bodyweight categories. 
  • The Q-points were then used to produce a total for each new bodyweight category.

Example: The weighted average formula below was used to find the Q points for the new W48 kg weight category:                              

(categoryHigh - categoryNew)/(categoryHigh - categoryLow) * QPointscategoryLow + (categoryNew - categoryLow)/(categoryHigh - categoryLow) * QPointscategoryHigh                      


=(49-48)/(49-45)*294.43+(48-45)/(49-45)*298.47


The 2025 A standards and the Q-points associated with each category were averaged and that weighted average was matched with a respective bodyweight to produce a total for the new category. These totals were rounded to the nearest kilo. These totals were then presented as the A standards for the new bodyweight categories.




Point 4: The initial Senior Pan American Championships ranking list was generated using the 2025 A standards for the current categories:

Applying the published qualification procedures, we ranked the athletes in the current bodyweight categories based on their produced totals in relation to the 2025 A standards.



Point 5: How we’re using the current existing selection procedure to determine the Senior Pan American Championships team.

  • Following the final qualifying event; the Virus Weightlifting Series 1, the top-8 women and top-8 men (along with two alternates for each gender) will be selected to the team based on percentage of A standard in current weight categories as written in the procedures.
  • Since the Senior PAC will use the new bodyweight categories, qualified athletes will be entered into the Senior PAC in a new bodyweight category in order of ranking from highest to lowest. This decision will be made by the USAW Sport Performance Team in consultation with the athlete and their personal coach. This will occur strictly in order of ranking.
  • Athletes do not have to weigh-in and compete in a new bodyweight category at the final qualifying event (the VWS1). They will be ranked according to the current bodyweight category in which they posted a qualifying total.


Point 6: Senior World Championships Qualifying

Since the final qualifying event, 2025 USAW National Championships, will be competed in the new bodyweight categories, a list ranking athletes in order of percentage of A standard in both the current and new bodyweight categories (if applicable for the individual) will be created.


After the national championships, the top-8 ranked men and top-8 ranked women (along with two alternates in each gender) will be selected for the Senior World Championships according to the ranking list above. Athletes will qualify based on whichever ranking is their highest percentage of the respective 2025 A standard. This decision will be made by the USAW Sport Performance Team in consultation with the athlete and their personal coach. This will occur strictly in order of ranking.


IE: If an athlete has a higher percentage as a M73, say 107%, instead of as a M79, say 102%, they’ll be ranked based on the M73 percentage. The USAW Sport Performance Team will then work with the athletes who qualify for the team to decide which new bodyweight category they’ll compete in for the competition.

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