In the most collaborative exercise ever undertaken by the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF), more than 250 stakeholders have been asked for their views, from inside and outside the governing body.

The rules of weightlifting, the way it is refereed, protection and promotion of athletes, competition formats, audience engagement, media coverage, branding, marketing, merchandise and anything else that comes up along the way are up for discussion, along with governance and anti-doping operations.

While the IWF Congress in Riyadh in Saudi Arabia in September is the launchpad for the Strategic Plan, the sport’s roadmap for the future, this is "an evolving document" that will be regularly monitored and fine-tuned to keep up with the never-ending process of change in international sport, the governing body said.

Although a nine-person Steering Committee managed by the IWF’s new communications director, Pedro Adrega, is guiding the way, everybody is involved in the journey.

Attila Adamfi, who represents the IWF Executive Board as one of the nine, said, "We should not be presenting our members with a document at Congress and saying, 'this is our Strategic Plan.’'

"We should consult everybody after every chapter of development, and they should see it as their plan, not our plan.

"We have been consulting every stakeholder, not just those from inside the IWF, and we have had a lot of very good feedback."

Adamfi has long been a proponent of long-term planning and made it a key part of his manifesto when he was elected as a vice-president last year. His hope is that weightlifting will "think with a commercial head and become the leader in the wider strength industry."

That is a very ambitious target given that some "younger" parts of the strength industry exist in a profit-driven world of highly paid, tech-savvy professionals where there are no committees in sight and company valuations can run into the billions of dollars.

"We must consider widening our portfolio, become more than what we are now, which in simple terms is an event organiser," said Adamfi.

"We should respect our traditions, and at the same time think outside the box and be open to new ideas.

"We should control the strength industry."

Another IWF figure with big ambitions is general secretary Antonio Urso, who said last year that he looked forward to "Weightlifting 2.0" after next year’s Olympic Games in Paris.

This means "a completely new vision for our sport, with new rules," Urso told insidethegames.

"It has to be more attractive to the audience and that means it must be simpler.

"In my opinion we can change the format of competitions, we can change the scoreboard, provide more relevant information for the viewer and make more of the athlete’s personality.

"My dream is to cancel the press-out, to make weightlifting simple - you lift the bar, or you don’t lift the bar."

The press-out is a divider of opinion like no other in weightlifting, as seen at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro when there was uproar after the Iranian Behdad Salimi was denied a medal because of three press-out failures.

When athletes or coaches complain about a decision, they will refer to the press-out rule even though the infringement might be something else such as a small movement of the arm or elbow, or failure to keep them straight or locked: all of these are covered in several of the IWF’s technical and competition rules and regulations.

Although they may not be visible to the spectator these minor movements cause many lifts to be deemed illegal by either the referees or, after video review, the jury.

While many weightlifting officials would like the rules to stay as they are, Urso explained, "We look at the press-out through biomechanics and see that if you do it too much you lose the bar, and if there is just a little movement of the arm you don’t gain much anyway."

On the subject of officiating, he said, "Compare weightlifting to fencing, which is a very fast sport.

"In weightlifting there might be 16 or 17 technical officials involved when one athlete goes out to lift. In fencing there are two athletes and one referee.

"We must reduce the enormous number of referees and technical officials in a competition, which is especially important in youth competitions.

"Young athletes should enjoy it, not worry about the referees - if their lift is not quite perfect, it’s okay."

Live analysis of every lift is another possibility, which would help viewers as well as athletes and coaches.

"Today, technology is completely on our side," said Urso.

"We are talking to one of the big tech companies about providing live analysis of each lift during a competition, which will be useful for coaches and also for commentators who can explain velocity, trajectory, anything that will give the audience a better understanding, a better experience.

"All we have at the moment when somebody breaks a world record is the number of kilos they lifted. We want to know more about what they did.

"We also have to do better with our time [before the first lift and between lift] for the audience."

On being the leader in strength sports, Urso highlighted the importance of opening IWF academies in all continents.

The latest of these was at a specialist sports university in Havana in Cuba in June.

"When we open an academy as we did in Cuba, it will be not just for weightlifting coaches but for coaches from other sports," Urso said.

"Football, rugby, swimming, track and field - like many other sports they all use strength and conditioning.

"We have 100 years of experience in using the barbell. It is a privilege for us to share that experience with other sports. We want them to talk about weightlifting as a sport that is useful to them, not as a doping sport."

Urso stressed that changes were for "after Paris [2024], because until then we are focusing on sorting out the problems of the past".

Those problems were caused by doping, and attempts to cover it up, which will be one of the areas on which the Strategic Plan focuses.

Changes that will have a long-term impact have already started, even if they are not all part of a coordinated effort.

Among the most important recent policies approved by the IWF Executive Board were creating the academies, and a coaching licence system that is being piloted by the European Weightlifting Federation (EWF).

As for new competition formats, there is talk of a different approach for weightlifting at the Summer Youth Olympic Games from 2030.

This weekend, Adamfi is part of a team promoting weightlifting "in the most attractive way" at the European Youth Olympic Festival in the main square in Maribor in Slovenia.

Two weekends ago in Lausanne, a CrossFit team competed in the latest version of street weightlifting, and last weekend thousands of functional fitness fanatics from Britain had a chance to take part in a fun competition with a barbell at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham.

Emily Campbell, Britain’s Olympic silver medallist, helped with the promotion at a competitive fitness expo.

Next month there will be another urban weightlifting event in Jamaica, and referees will take on a new look in a continental competition in Venezuela when they swap their traditional blazers for a lightweight top that looks more like gym wear.

In October, EWF President Antonio Conflitti will organise a new-look outdoor event at Ancient Olympia.

Conflitti, who represents the Continental Federations on the Strategic Plan Steering Committee, is keen on "parallel events to traditional Olympic weightlifting that are more of a show, still featuring snatch and clean and jerk but in a different way, a new style.

"We want not just a new kind of weightlifting, but a new kind of weightlifter."

Whatever anybody in "the weightlifting family" thinks about all this, the Steering Committee welcome their views.

Two of the more forward-thinking nations in the sport, United States and China, are supporters of change.

The US was the first country to welcome CrossFitters into weightlifting when its National Federation hosted a USA Weightlifting CrossFit event in Colorado Springs in 2010.

Last year China, the world’s most successful nation by far in terms of achievement, was planning a "weightlifting carnival" in Chongqing alongside the IWF World Championships, only to be thwarted by COVID-19.

Plans included an expo for equipment and sportswear, a forum on international development, and staging the Chinese National Championships concurrently.

America’s Ursula Papandrea, the IWF’s first vice-president who hosted a test event in Texas before the 2010 CrossFit competition, recalled that a weightlifting contest was followed immediately afterwards by a competitive workout featuring exercises such as pull-ups and burpees.

"It was a culture change, a mindset change," said Papandrea.

"We don’t need to become CrossFit to learn from them about business and presentation.

"The aim was to pull CrossFitters into weightlifting and the view at the time was, 'we have a lot to gain.'

"We wanted to make them welcome, and although some of our older members were cold towards the Crossfit athletes, it went well.

"We have been able to broaden the base of spectators and competitors and by doing so, we were able to bring interest and more sponsors.

"From there we wanted to provide CrossFitters with a chance to be 'real weightlifters' and compete at bigger, better-organised weightlifting events and eventually that led to the creation of the American Open series, which had slightly lower qualifying standards and made it easier for CrossFitters to take part.

"An important step was to put all event operations into the national office and now USAW (USA Weightlifting) has produced 'super events' with up to six platforms going at one time and a thousand or more competitors over three to four days.

"The event is higher quality, more exciting and audiences are larger. There is always something to watch, no more minutes of an empty platform.

"That has been a huge success. We have had a lot of Crossfitters come into weightlifting, and now former CrossFitters form a large part of our base, if not the elite athletes.

"We need a similar culture change at the IWF, and we are seeing it. More and more people are beginning to believe in innovation. You can change, create something new without losing tradition.

"Barbell, weights, platform, some version of snatch and clean and jerk – as long as you have those, the rest is up for discussion.

"Maybe add an element of endurance or maybe base a competition on speed, give it more tempo.

"There is room for the development of a second discipline to feature as well as the traditional format.

"We used to have a Sport Innovation Commission at the IWF. It’s time to bring it back."

Before COVID-19 wrecked its plans last year, the Chinese Weightlifting Association (CWA) spoke of revamping weightlifting, making it more exciting and more athlete-focused to "tap into its full market value".

This week CWA vice-president Liu Chengliang said China was a strong supporter of IWF reforms, and of its "zero tolerance" towards doping.

"We suggest that the IWF could organise more international competitions and activities, especially for youths and juniors, to attract more countries and regions to participate and further enhance exchanges," Liu said.

The CWA believed that improving the sport’s image and focusing on star performers would strengthen the promotion and marketing of weightlifting and help it to attract more sponsors.

"The CWA will continue to support the IWF, and we are willing to work together with all stakeholders to promote a better development of our sport worldwide," Liu said.

Helga Hakonardottir, the Member Federations’ representative on the Steering Committee, has been "pleasantly surprised by how progressive the IWF is."

The Iceland Weightlifting Federation President, who like her daughter is a competitive lifter and CrossFitter, works as a consultant in strategic planning and restructuring for private businesses and non-profit Government bodies.

Hakonardottir, a qualified lawyer, was part of the financial system that collapsed in Iceland in 2007-2008, since when she set up independently to help businesses rebuild themselves, with sustainability and good governance at the forefront.

"I’m a woman of action who has learned from a bad experience [the financial crash]," she said.

"The current IWF structure doesn’t realise what the value of weightlifting is, its brand value, commercial value.

"It’s different in CrossFit where the athletes themselves are marketing oriented.

"Weightlifting has been stagnant for a while, only now is it waking up to the realisation that it has so much potential.

"The IWF must focus on sustainability and long-term thinking, it must act now on new governance and new strategy. The challenge is not coming up with ideas and talking about them, it’s implementing the changes."

Hakonardottir said she was surprised at how little choice there was in clothing for women who want to look good when they are lifting weights.

"Weightlifting is an open field to anybody in marketing because it’s a sport not just for weightlifters, it’s for all elite athletes involved in strength and conditioning, and for ordinary Joes in the gym," she said.

She believes that older people, as well as youngsters, can be drawn into the sport.

"Elderly people are focused on not eating too much fat, on walking or other exercises to improve their health – what they should be thinking about is lifting weights, about gaining and sustaining muscle mass.”

Forrester Osei and Olympic champion Hidilyn Diaz are the athletes’ representatives on the Steering Committee.

Osei, who chairs the IWF Athletes Commission, of which Diaz is also a member, is hopeful that the Strategic Plan will offer more direct support to athletes who most need it in future.

Details of a new project were announced recently, under which 10 athletes receive $3,000 (£2,300/€2,700) to help their Olympic qualifying efforts.

Osei was enthusiastic about the innovative approach to future competitions and said the Athletes Commission was happy with "the idea of reinventing weightlifting, in a manner, to create a future pathway for our sport and help it to grow in a way that will benefit athletes."

The Swedish equipment manufacturer Eleiko was among the stakeholders consulted, as were media and communications companies.

Eleiko’s chief executive Erik Blomberg was impressed by the IWF’s "professional and forward-leaning process" in shaping its Strategic Plan.

"The consultation process includes a wide range of stakeholders which is essential for this work to be successful,” Blomberg said.

"We view strong governance and a clean sport as foundational elements for a stronger IWF.

"With that in place the federation can begin to realise the full potential of weightlifting.

"Strength is a fundamental human trait, just like speed and endurance, and it could connect well beyond the sport itself.

"By exploring new formats of competition, professionalising the presentation to increase entertainment value, placing athletes at the centre to build inspirational role models, and connecting with strength communities outside of weightlifting, we believe weightlifting can experience rapid growth in the future."

Adrega has overseen the progress over three months to date. He said that the Steering Committee would "certainly give special attention" to athletes’ safeguarding and representation, event programming and sport presentation, promotion and marketing of the IWF brand and all aspects related to good governance and accountability.

He said, "It has been a very interesting journey, a transparent, honest and open exercise with one single goal: to establish an ambitious roadmap for the years to come.

"We want this Strategic Plan to be a very consensual document, thus the importance of consulting all the relevant stakeholders along the way.

"In the end, we want to create a tool that enables the IWF to successfully face the challenges of a very dynamic international sports environment."

Other members of the steering committee are Besim Hasani, independent external adviser and former President of the Kosovo National Olympic Committee, Maria Cseresnyes, the IWF’s business administration manager, and Catherine Inkster from the JTA communications agency, which is an IWF partner.

IWF President Mohammed Jalood said, "Weightlifting is one of the most fundamental Olympic sports, practised widely as a training activity and enshrined in the Olympic motto, Faster, Higher, Stronger - Together.

"But no sport can afford to rest on its laurels in the competitive modern sports marketplace, and the IWF has been clearly tasked with setting a new course for its future."