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History of I.A.W.A. (UK) International All-Round Weightlifting Association In the late 19th century, weightlifting was in its heyday. Strongmen and weightlifters were much higher on the celebrity ladder than today. From the Bavarian Beer Gardens to the London stage, weightlifting was a great source of entertainment, many lifters had strong followings, people would travel across Europe to watch their favourites compete head to head against others who maybe claimed to be the strongest man alive. Much to the surprise of many today, women also had their champions, many strongwomen, weightlifters and wrestlers are well documented to have achieved great things, well before the turn of the century. The Olympic Games revival in 1896 saw weightlifting included and eventually a set of lifts were decided upon, and became known as the Olympic Set. Later in the 20th century, Powerlifting was founded and became very popular with the masses. The overall result was that eventually by the 1970's, only Olympic lifting and Powerlifting were being practised on any large scale. The whole heart and origins of weightlifting were starting to be long forgotten, seen only in books or magazines and remembered fondly by the older generations of weightlifters. Fortunately there were always a few purists who fought to keep the third element of weightlifting alive:- ALL ROUND WEIGHTLIFTING! Without which, of course, no other type of lifting would have ever been born. In the early 1980's, a group of enthusiasts realised that the only way forward was to break away from the old associations (and for more than one reason too!). If All Round Lifting was to survive and be remembered and revived as it should be, then someone had to make it happen, and they did. The English group was well established by 1985, and made contact with a similar group in the U.S.A. So, 1985 saw the first International All Round match between the two Nations, albeit a postal match, but that sowed the seeds. By 1987, the International Group was well and truly formed as The International All Round Weightlifting Association, and the first Open World Championships were held in Leicester, England. It has been an enjoyable journey since those early days, with World Open Championships held every year (venues have included: USA, England, Scotland, Australia and New Zealand) and the very popular Gold Cup World Record Breakers event has also been an annual event since 1991. We have come a long way since those early days and we have seen fourteen Nations represented over the years. Though we still have a long way to go, with the help and support of all the good people who believe in I.A.W.A. we shall continue to grow and excel in the mixture of new and old-time lifts, lifts that are the history of the 'Iron Game'. |