About IKLF

Coach Nico Rithner

IKLF Kettlebell Lifting Sports Brief History

IKLF started as USA Kettlebell Lifting in 2009 by Coach Nicolas Rithner in Denver, Colorado USA. The original sport was called American Rules Kettlebell Sport (ARKS). It was directly inspired by the Girevoy rules that were in place at the time in Russia, except that in ARKS men and women could participate in the same events. IKLF was the first kettlebell sport organization in the world to introduce double kettlebell lifts for women in competition.

In 2011, ARKS gave way to BOLT. Competitions became international and IKLF was created.

BOLT Brief History and Features Summary

BOLT stands for Believe, Overcome, Lift, Triumph. BOLT started as an entry-level way to compete in ARKS, but after two years it was updated to be a full fledge sport replacing ARKS.

BOLT Features:

  • Six Lifts - Double Snatch, Double Jerk, Double Clean and Jerk, Snatch, Jerk, and Clean and Jerk.

  • IKLF Competition Scoring. Kilos per lift are multiplied by the total number of repetitions completed to obtain the score.

  • Set downs during competition is allowed.

  • Unlimited hand switches during competition is allowed.

  • Lifters choose the weight to compete with. Weight is chosen per lift, not per event.

  • Maximum repetitions enforced per lift to ensure safety and quality repetitions.