Spot on Bazza. No lifter should cop the wrath, but they do.
Max said Wilkerson is really pissed at the comments. So sad.
Why isnt anybody commenting in a negative way on Malanchev's Facebook.
Only Wilkerson can control the comments, not the judges, not the meet director.
I agree that the judges fucked up, but Wilkerson can eliminate all that. No shit ever said about Coan, Bridges, Kuc, Kaz, Konstantinov, Kirk, Anello, Crain, Coe, Butler etc..
Its clearly the fault of these Feds not enforcing the rule book. I'm sure Wilkerson can perform a legal squat according to the rule book, but not with 1000lbs
I remember posting on ns.com back in 2007 after Nina competed at Nats. I hadnt been to a PL comp since around 1992. I honestly thought they had changed the rule. I was stunned at the height lifters were getting white lights on. I even spoke to the then President Ian Webb, he told me that over the years, as equipment evolved, lifters had lots of trouble hitting legal depth.
But its not only equipped lifters. Raw lifters now do the same, and they have no excuse.
Now dont think it ends with powerlifters. PT's dont allow clients to perform a deep knee bend in gyms. One of my female clients does reps with 60kg ATG, really deep. She was doing a pump class (dont ask) and the instructor chastised her for going so deep. She made her stop around 6" above parallel.............with a 5kg BB.
So obviously much has changed in the 30+ years from when I began squatting, in gyms and on the platforms, raw and equipped.
Maybe Kyle is right, lets leave it to the lifter, bring some integrity back to the sport, because the discussion on PW is not good for the sport.
At Worlds last year, Max had lifters, refs and organizers telling him to change his bench and his squat action. I explained to them that Max took the judge out of the equation, he either makes the lift or he doesnt. They said we were throwing away pounds.
Maybe. But he bought back a Gold Medal WITHOUT arching wide grip benching, low bar wide stance parallel squats and Sumo deadlifts. All these techniques are fine and well within the rules of PL, but if you guys meet the kid, you'll know he's all about integrity.
It may cost him comps in years to come, but it wont cost him respect.
Thats what the old school lifters have still got.
Will the same be said about the current crop?
Not a chance