Powerlifting to Potentially Join European University Championships

On the 10 January 2024, the European University Sports Association (EUSA) office in Ljubljana hosted a meeting on the topic of the first EUSA-EPF European Universities Powerlifting Championship.

The EUSA Sports Manager Miha Zvan, Sports Officer Eszter Gulyas, and Sports Administrator Aleksandra Andreeva held a working meeting with the representatives of the International Powerlifting Federation (IPF), Emanuel Scheiber, General Manager and the European Powerlifting Federation (EPF), Tetiana Melnyk, Secretary General.

The representatives of EUSA and IPF/EPF continued with the fruitful dialogue of the past years on future cooperation, in particular by expanding the ongoing discussion on the possibilities of including powerlifting in the program of the EUSA European Universities Championships.

To move things forward, all EUSA procedures, operations, and event organization requirements have been analyzed and processed in detail, to be studied and taken into consideration by any potential organizing committee. With all of these documents and the associated proposal largely in place, some potential candidates were presented, and some final discussions were held regarding potential locations for the first EUC Powerlifting.

The discussion aimed at expanding the possibilities for the first joint event in 2025: EUSA-EPF European Universities Powerlifting Championship is therefore on its way, with this project leading to be further discussed and approved by the EUSA Executive Committee.

In 2020, EUSA and EPF signed a Memorandum of Understanding to strengthen the cooperation and partnership between the two organizations. This Memorandum also aims to promote and contribute to the development of powerlifting activities and projects among students, as well as to explore new opportunities for synergy and collaboration.

The first joint venture resulting from the new partnership was the organization of four editions of the European Universities Powerlifting Cups, which have been successfully held since 2020.

The European University Championships program is subject to change and currently includes 23 sports, with kickboxing, beach handball, water polo, and orienteering the latest to be added in 2019. The last edition was held in Lodz, Poland, in 2022, and the next edition is scheduled for 12-24 July 2024 in Debrecen and Miskolc, both in Hungary.

For more information on the European Powerlifting Federation, please visit [website].