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2020 Powerlifting Events Canceled or Postponed Due To Coronavirus (Updated)

A continuously updated list of the status of Powerlifting events.

Written by Phil Blechman
Last updated on July 27th, 2020

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic as characterized by the World Health Organization (WHO) last week is causing a multitude of powerlifting events to be canceled, postponed, or otherwise forced to adjust the events accordingly.

We at BarBend decided it would be helpful to have a continuously updated list of canceled and postponed powerlifting events. We have lists for CrossFit events and weightlifting events as well.

Here are the events that have had details published about or have been affected thus far:

IPF 2020 Sheffield Powerlifting Championships – March 28-29

The 2020 Sheffield Powerlifting Championships scheduled to take place in Sheffield, UK have been canceled due to the rampant spread of the coronavirus. According to comments by the organizers:

“…with the unprecedented escalation of the coronavirus outbreak, the cancellation of sports events globally and the growing travel disruptions, there is no option but to cancel Sheffield 2020.”

The International Powerlifting Federation (IPF) is already in the planning process for Sheffield 2021.

The Kern US Open – April 25-26

The Kern US Open that was scheduled for April 25-26 in San Diego, California has been postponed. According to World Raw Powerlifting Federation (WRPF) President Russell Kern, the new date for the event is November 21-22 at the same location.

World Classic & Equipped Masters Powerlifting Championships – April 26-May 3

Several event postponements were announced via the International Powerlifting Federation (IPF)’s Instagram TV video below, including the World Classic & Equipped Masters Powerlifting Championships set to happen in Sun City, South Africa being postponed until October. These changes were confirmed in the IPF’s official statement. Check out the video below:

“For the health of our people, to make sure that nobody get in touch with people who have the coronavirus. The other reason is a lot of flights have been canceled so it will be very difficult for most people to get to Europe or Africa. We have no other choice.”

World Open, Sub-Junior, Junior & Masters Classic & Equipped Championships – May 15-23

For the same reasons as stated in the IPF’s Instagram TV video above — spread of the coronavirus outbreak and disrupted travel — the World Classic & Equipped Championships set to take place in Pilzen, Czech Republic have been postponed until August.

According to the IPF’s official statement regarding the postponement of international events:

“The World Sub-Junior, Junior & Open Classic Powerlifting Championships in Minsk/BLR are currently not affected and NOT scheduled to be postponed, but of course we need to monitor the situation and we will set the necessary action if needed.”

The World Sub-Junior, Junior & Open Classic Powerlifting Championships in Minsk, Belarus that are still set to happen as scheduled will take place for June 11-20.

View this post on Instagram

Due to the rapid spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, we unfortunately need to postpone the SEA Cup. The new dates are September 4-6, and we will continue to monitor the situation. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ On behalf of all of us here at TPF, we deeply apologize for the postponement and were very much looking forward to the event in April, but, at this point, it's better safe than sorry and look forward to coming back even stronger in September. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ เนื่องด้วยการแพร่ระบาดของ COVID-19 coronavirus ทางเราจึงต้องเลื่อนการแข่งขัน SEA Cup เป็นวันที่ 4-6 กันยายน ซึ่งเราจะติดตามสถานการณ์ของการแพร่ระบาดนี้อย่างต่อเนื่องด้วยครับ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ทางเรา TPF จึงต้องขออภัยอย่างยิ่งสำหรับการเลือนกำหนดการที่ทางเราต้องการที่จะจัดการแข่งขันในเดือนเมษายนนี้ แต่จำเป็นต้องเลื่อนกำหนดการเพื่อความปลอดภัยของทุกๆ ท่าน และจะกลับมาจัดงานอย่างยิ่งใหญ่ในเดือนกันยายนนี้ครับ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #thailand #strong #bangkok #squats #powerlifting #squat #thai #deadlift #bkk #benchpress #deadlifts #IPF #sbd #powerlift #powerliftingmotivation #eleiko #sumodeadlift #deadlifting #squatting #rawpowerlifting #TPF #sbdapparel #APF #benchpressing #conventionaldeadlift #eleikosport #drugfreepowerlifting #thaipowerlifting #tpfnationalqualifiers #seacup2020

A post shared by Thai Powerlifting Federation (@thaipowerlifting) on

World Classic Powerlifting Championships – June 11-20

According to the announcement made by IPF Gaston Parage, the World Classic Powerlifting Championships have been postponed until September 24th through October 4th, 2020.

View this post on Instagram

BREAKING NEWS Dear lifters, officials and friends over the World The IPF Executive committee has decided to postpone the World Classic Powerlifting Championships in agreement with the organizer from Belarus. I want to thank the organizer that they agreed with this and with our new date we proposed them. The new date will be from 24.09 to 04.10.2020 The preliminary nominations will be hide so that nobody need to add again all the lifters and a new preliminary dateline and new final dateline will be of course starting in due time. We will prepare now all the invitation’s for all our postpone Worlds and making sure that it will be soon published on our webpage and on our calendar. The reason’s are that we still not knowing when the quarantine in a lot of the countries around the World’s will be over and we do not know when the airlines start flying again around the Worlds. An other reason is also that our lifters cannot adequate prepare for the Worlds because all the gym’s are closed and so it has become necessary to take this decision. Healthy is the most important and let’s hope that all this will finish soon. You can help to make sure it finish when you following the restriction’s from the Government’s. Stay at home and stay safe. Best regards Gaston Parage @ipfpresident @aplyft @eleikosport @sbdapparel @theworldgames @twg2021bhm @olympicchannel @the_epf @napf_powerlifting @ipf.centralasia @asian.powerlifting.federation @fesupo.social #powerlifting #classic

A post shared by IPF Powerlifting (@theipf) on

The 2020 Sea Cup

Due to the coronavirus outbreak, The Sea Cup originally scheduled for April has been postponed until September 4-6 by the Thai Powerlifting Federation (TPF). It will be held at the same venue assuming there is not an additional need for another round of postponement.

“…at this point, it’s better to be safe than sorry and look forward to coming back even stronger in September.”

USA Powerlifting Events

According to their press release from March 9th, all USA Powerlifting (USAPL) sanctioned events are currently happening as scheduled unless otherwise stated.The Executive Committee is “…closely monitoring the CDC, Federal, and state and local government guidance on the Novel Coronavirus.”

The following events have been changed:

  • 2020 USAPL SoDak State Meet – March 13 – Canceled.
  • 2020 USAPL New Orleans Invitational – March 14 – Postponed.
  • 2020 USAPL Collegiate National Championships – April 3 – Postponed.
  • 2020 USAPL Louisiana State Games & RAW High School State Championships – April 25 – Canceled.
  • 2020 USAPL Open Nationals – May 8-10 – Postponed.
  • 2020 USAPL Powerlifting High School National Championships – Postponed until June 30-July 2.

IPF Classic Worlds and Classic & Equipped Bench Press Championships

On July 27th, IPF President Gaston Parage announced that the IPF Classic Worlds and Classic & Equipped Bench Press Championships were canceled.


Feature image from USA Powerlifting’s Instagram page: @usapowerlifting