CHESTERFIELD, Mo. — Logan University may be commonly known for its chiropractic program in St. Louis, but the college has since become the home of USA Para Powerlifting as it recently hosted the first international para powerlifting championship for the U.S.
The St. Louis 2022 World Para Powerlifting Parapan American Open Championships took place July 8-11. There were 162 athletes from 24 countries, including North America, South America and Central America. They competed for a chance to qualify in the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris.
The championships included 20 individual medal events and one mixed team event. Ages ranged from 16 years old to over 40 years old.
Logan University has a partnership with the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee and has been the high-performance management organization for USA Para Powerlifting since 2018, according to Dr. Kelley Humphries-Mascoll, executive director of Paralympic Operations.
She said the college is responsible for the management and governess of the sport for here in the U.S. Logan University has been involved in para powerlifting since 2016 and the college has grown to being more than just a flagship school for chiropractic.
“It’s evolved into other areas of health sciences, but one of the biggest things that Logan wanted to be involved with was the paralympic movement,” Humphries-Mascoll said.
“Becoming the home of a paralympic sport just kind of seemed to fall in line with those aspirations.”
She said Logan University was honored to host the event.
“We’ve had a lot of fun,” Humphries-Mascoll said. “It’s been a lot of hard work, but the thing that makes it all worth it is the athletes seem to be really, really happy. If that’s what happens at the end of the day, then I say we did a pretty good job if the athletes are happy.”
“These are phenomenal athletes that are really strong beyond belief.”
Para powerlifting is strictly bench pressing. Athletes must lower the bar to their chests, hold it motionlessly and then press it upwards to arms-length with locked elbows within a certain amount of time. They have three attempts and the competitor who lifts the heaviest weight is the winner.
“The really cool thing about paralympic powerlifting is that these athletes have an array of lower limb impairments, but regardless of that, they are able to compete against each other in the sport,” Humphries-Mascoll said.
David Horvath, a senior at Lindenwood University, won two silver medals, one in the open where all 24 countries competed and one in the regional championships for the Americas. This was his first international para powerlift championship at Logan University.
His medals were in the total weight category where an athlete gets three attempts at a bench press and each successful lift is added up to a grand total.
Horvath’s total weight lifted was 391 kgs (862 lbs). He said his first international championship experience was “phenomenal.”
“I couldn’t have asked for a better first meet to get exposed to,” Horvath said. “I came in with the mindset of just ‘get on the board with one good lift.’ That’s all I needed to do because that would allow me to get a world ranking. And then I could improve based that point.”
Since para powerlifting only is focused on the bench press discipline, Horvath said there are more rules with technique than able-bodied powerlifting which includes other powerlifting disciplines.
The bar has to be under control the entire time and the athlete has to wait for the referee to say when to put the bar back on the rack.
“It’s very technical, there’s a lot they look for,” Horvath said.
After attending a weight lifting PE class in high school, Horvath said he “immediately fell in love with fitness.” He then bought a gym membership and participated in his school’s track and field team.
Soon after, Horvath became involved with the Disabled Athlete Sports Association (DASA), a St. Peters based organization, that introduced him to para powerlifting and team USA.
“It’s just been awesome to be able to compete in a sport that I love, but also being able to compete with other people who have the exact same mindset as I do,” he said.
“When I was in high school and competing on the track team, I mostly competed by myself, like against myself. It was frustrating at times where I didn’t really have anything to gage off of and I didn’t have a comradery aspect with somebody … with similar life experiences.”
His high school coaches have played a big part in getting him to where he is today as they helped him with gaining self-confidence, among overcoming other obstacles.
Horvath is currently studying exercise sciences and wants to be a coach after graduation. With his powerlifting, Horvath said he hopes to compete in the 2028 Paralympics in Los Angeles.
By hosting the St. Louis 2022 World Para Powerlifting Parapan American Open Championships, Humphries-Mascoll said she hopes the sport will become more widely known.
“I’m looking forward to the Chesterfield community and beyond having a greater awareness of the sport of para powerlifting. It’s such a small sport here in the United States and globally when you compare it to other sports. Not many people know about it. They just have no idea, it’s like the best kept secret, so I really hope this increases a lot of awareness about the sport domestically and internationally,” she said.
Humphries-Mascoll noted that the community did a wonderful job by providing accessibility measures to ensure the para powerlifting athletes were comfortable.
“I also hope that the Chesterfield community sees that there is a need for us to be more open and welcoming to individuals with disabilities from an accessibility standpoint,” she said. “I just hope that it kind of sparks a fire in everybody to ensure that athletes of all abilities are able to participate no matter where they are in the world.”
To see results from the championships, click here.
