USAW's Board of Directors voted unanimously to double athlete membership on the Board, giving them a third of voting seats and making them the largest membership group.

More than half of USAW's current Board of Directors are made up of individuals who have competed internationally in sport.

Three more members will be added to the USAW Advisory Council too, with an additional athlete representative also being appointed to all Committees.

USAW chief executive Phil Andrews said: "We are extremely happy to be able to adjust our governance to both increase the athlete voice, but also to include a critical category of athletes in our organisation and their views across all of our governance levels.

"This opens up further opportunities both for the athlete but also for the organisation to take advantage of the deep intelligence, expertise and experience of this new pool of athletes than can serve our organisation and their sport."

The representatives will come from the national team pool, allowing athletes who have represented the United States in major international events other than the International Weightlifting Federation World Championships, Olympic Games and Pan American Games to be part of the Board.

Elections for these positions will be held later this year in line with the next Board elections.

As of next year, USAW will have 12 voting members on its Board, made-up of four elite athlete members, two coach or technical members, two grassroots members, two at-large members and two independent members.