USAT changed the Athena/Clydesdale weight limits

[katinthehat]

Athena went from 150 to 165.  Clydesdales went from 200 to 220.

Now I can't compete anymore

(I mean as an Athena.  I obviously still can do age group.)

And that's a pretty big weight jump, especially for women.  I have no idea why they did it either.

[zoidberg]

Wait, wait, wait. These are categories for PEOPLE? They call people Clydesdales because of their weight??

That seems so mean! I call myself a Clydesdale because of my massive legs, but this seems so awful!

[pamela]

Jun 9, 2013 16:47:18 GMT -5 zoidberg said:

Wait, wait, wait. These are categories for PEOPLE? They call people Clydesdales because of their weight??

That seems so mean! I call myself a Clydesdale because of my massive legs, but this seems so awful!

Men.  not women

[zoidberg]

It's not mean because they are men? Seriously?

Surely they have choices other than comparing people above a certain weight to large farm animals.

[katinthehat]

They've also proposed a change to eliminate the names and simply call it "weight class athletes"

[zoidberg]

Glad to hear that, it seems so unnecessary to have those names. Athena isn't so bad, but Clydesdale is just terrible.

[gumi]

You can rock the age groups!  Maybe they changed it because triathletes tend to be muscular and having extra weight is not as much as hindrance as it is in like marathons?  One thing about triathlons is skinny =/= fast.  AT ALL.

I admittedly do not know what a "clydesdale" is 

[foundmylazybum]

Jun 9, 2013 16:47:18 GMT -5 zoidberg said:

Wait, wait, wait. These are categories for PEOPLE? They call people Clydesdales because of their weight??

That seems so mean! I call myself a Clydesdale because of my massive legs, but this seems so awful!

Eh. This is from Track and Field--they used to have a few specific T&F races that were specifically for throwers to enter.

Maybe you don't know anything about T&F, but having participated in the sport for years and years--just trust me...it was fine, and culturally acceptable.


You are talking about guys who are most definitely proud of their weight and strength. It's not mean at all.

[sadlebred]

When does the change go into effect?

[joenali]

You should be happy you can't be in that category!!

[katinthehat]

Already did - January 1st. I had to email the race directors of a race I want to do and ask for clarification - they still had the 150 lb up. I could have take top 3 in that race (based on last years results) if I could do Athena. But they changed it to fit USAT and now, I have to race AG.

[sullie7173]

I can kind of see why depending on the height of the athlete, I am 6 feet tall and would qualify under the old numbers, but most people would/do consider me to be thin... i never raced it that category because I felt it wouldnt be right though was definately tempted a few times as it meant i could have usually placed 1st in the group