Recently I saw the qualifying totals posted for World’s. This came as a complete shock to me. From what I read online, the number of entries in recent masters only weightlifting competitions has increased. And not just by a small amount. Us old folks have been coming out in droves to lift. I fully expected to see an increase in these numbers, but instead, there is a slight drop. This is the number that I would have previously needed to qualify for Nationals, but now it is Worlds. And the Nationals numbers have dropped. I believe they went down to 218, which again, was a complete surprise.
I worked for years to finally get a total that would take me to Nationals and was able to do that at my last meet. Of course, that was with the old weight classes, but it isn’t going to make a difference for me. I had my mind prepared to see an increase in qualifying totals and I wanted that. Whether I go compete or not, the slight increase will, in turn, drive me more in the gym to keep chasing, keep pursuing, and keep working.
This decrease leaves me in a slightly different spot.