***Edited on April 20***

This story is making the rounds on social media today.

First and foremost, powerlifting likely will not be in the Olympics anytime soon. To be “in the Olympics” means a sport must go through a two-step process. The International Powerlifting Federation (IPF) has been working on the first step for many years and has been denied every time (though it appears to get closer each time). That first step is to become an IOC (International Olympic Committee) recognized sport. The second (and MUCH more difficult) step is to apply for inclusion in the Olympic program (i.e., what you see when you watch the Olympics) which is limited to a very small number of sports, many of which are firmly entrenched in the Olympic program. Typically, a sport has to be dropped for another to be added. However, it still would be a great success if the IPF (and by extension USA Powerlifting as the IPF affiliate in the U.S.) simply achieved the first step as it would open up new sources of funding for the sport.

What happened today is that the Alliance of Independent Recognised Members of Sport (AIMS) received recognition by the IOC. The AIMS represents many non-Olympic recognized sports. So, powerlifting did not become an IOC-recognized sport today but progress has been in the process toward IOC recognition. The official announcement from the IPF can be found here.

For those who are interested, this article (10 years old but still accurate) does a good job explaining the process of Olympic recognition and inclusion in the Olympic program.