Powerlifting Junior Athletes with Physical Impairment: Performance Analysis Considering Gender, Origin of Impairment, Competitive Achievement and Impairment Type

The purpose of this study was to explore whether gender, origin of impairment and impairment type could influence the performance of junior powerlifters athletes with physical impairment. The database was composed of 83 Para powerlifters (54 males and 29 females) who participated in the 2017 and 2019 Junior World Para Powerlifting Championships. Data related to gender, year of birth, origin of impairment and impairment type were obtained from the International Paralympic Committee website. Two-way ANOVA and Chi-square tests were used to verify the distribution and compare load performance considering different groups. For absolute and relative loads, males were stronger when compared to females (P = 0.01). However, chronological age and performance load were not influenced by origin of impairment, impairment type or competition achievement (P > 0.05). Our results show that the origin of the impairment and the competitive achievement do not influence the performance of junior para powerlifting athletes with physical impairment.