Time for an u120kg weight class?

I said:

I don't think it would. The UKs organisers have clearly set a strategy to find the guys they believe will do well at the UKs and are not interested in bringing in greater numbers or in any way catering for those who maybe excel in events that rely more heavily on speed and agility.

I'm not knocking them for this, as clearly they believe this is the best way to find the best representatives to send to the UKs, but I am saying it almost makes their comps irrelevant to a wider debate. The fact that in a comp' with only 8 athletes they felt the need to have a cut after three static events (the athletes having to have at least got one rep on two events out of three static lifts) tells me they have no interest other than the specifics of the UKs.

Ben_F said:
Although having typed that out I have just thought that actually yes - maybe it would further dilute the numbers doing the UK's but that either the UKs wont care or that it may force them to reconsider their strategy IF (big if) they want greater particiapation... as I said previously, the indications at this stage are that they are not interested in participation levels - only finding the right people to take forward.

martinb said:
what confuses me about that whole thing is that last years UKs were completely different than previous years, much more events, and far lighter
if this trend continues what is the point in making the quals like that?

ursus said:
Diet, or get stronger.
If a jockey is too heavy to race would you tell him to diet ?or put him on a shire horse ?!!! You cant just change stuff because you dont fit

JC said:
I'd agree with Ben, in that the UKSC organisers have only one interest, the UKs
I dont see the problem with the 3 "cut off" lifts TBH, especially as they weren't that heavy! If you didnt get 2 of 3 on those, you'd struggle like f**k at UKs, so whats the point?

martinb said:
if the UK quals are geared towards 160 monsters, then a 120 class will have zero impact on it

Ben_F said:

Although having typed that out I have just thought that actually yes - maybe it would further dilute the numbers doing the UK's but that either the UKs wont care or that it may force them to reconsider their strategy IF (big if) they want greater particiapation... as I said previously, the indications at this stage are that they are not interested in participation levels - only finding the right people to take forward.

JC said:
I'd agree with Ben, in that the UKSC organisers have only one interest, the UKs
I dont see the problem with the 3 "cut off" lifts TBH, especially as they weren't that heavy! If you didnt get 2 of 3 on those, you'd struggle like f**k at UKs, so whats the point?

terryhollands said:
I won the uk's in 2005 and I would have got the Deadlift, no chance on the squat and 50/50 on the press. I don't think it's as static as people think it is

Ben_F said:

Exactly, one little mistake in the qualifiers and someone like yourself (as you were back then) could miss out which is wrong to me.

davycummings said:
Ha ha, we disagree again.
I dont agree with eliminators at all. It basically prioritises certain strengths in a sport that is supposed to reward the best overall balance of strengths. We finally got rid of them in SSM qual and I am delighted. They were good ones for me, and I benefitted from it last year, but was against it then also.
If the field is too big then cut it after a certain number of events.
If someone is failing 2 events they are unlikely to qualify anyway, but if they do then they have done fantastic at the other events and would bring something to the competition as much as a guy who did the eliminators and performed poorly at the other events but still got in

Ben_F said:
Exactly, one little mistake in the qualifiers and someone like yourself (as you were back then) could miss out which is wrong to me.

slimsim said:
Of course you could! This is the evolution that Stetec is talking about which has already occurred in strongman over the years with the advent of u80's and u90's, u105's and increased weights in competition, certain standardised events etc.
This is the beauty of strongman being a niche sport. If people want to change it now then it's easily done without vast swathes of red tape to cut through.
All sports can change if they want to appeal to a broader range of people (which, IMO should be the aim for all sports as this increases participation, sponsorships, prize money etc). I don't think it's a coincidence that football is the most popular sport in the country and probably has the broadest structure in terms of leagues ranging from pub teams, school teams, Christ know how many leagues these days.
It's been said previously, nobody look at premiership footballers in a lesser way simply because they can kick a ball themselves. If anything it makes people more aware of their athletic qualities. The same would be true with strongman.