What is Weightlifting?
Weightlifting is a sport where athletes lift barbells loaded with weights. Weightlifting tests the strength, power and technique of athletes.
By whom, where and when was Weightlifting invented?
Weightlifting has ancient origins. It was practised both by ancient Egyptian and Greek societies. It developed as an international sport primarily in the 19th century, and is one of the few sports to have featured at the first modern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896.
At the beginning of the century, Austria, Germany and France were the most successful nations. However in the 1950s, the Soviet Union’s weightlifters rose to prominence and stayed there until the 1990s, when China, Turkey, Greece and Iran catapulted to the lead. In the women’s field, China has been dominant since the very beginning.
What are the rules of Weightlifting?
Weightlifters compete in bodyweight categories, or weight classes.
There are two stages in Olympic weightlifting – the snatch and the clean and jerk.
In snatch weightlifters pick up the barbell and lift it above their head in one singular motion.
In the clean and jerk weightlifters are first required to pick up the barbell and bring it up to their chest (clean). The lifters must then pause and extend their arms and legs to lift it above the head (jerk) with a straight elbow and have to hold it there until a buzzer is sounded.
A weightlifter is given three snatch attempts and three clean and jerk attempts each. A weightlifter’s best attempt at snatch and the clean and jerk are then added up and the one with the highest combined weight lifted is declared the winner.
What is the difference between Weightlifting and Weight Lifting?
Weightlifting, is the sport that is contested in the Olympics that tests strength and technique of athletes. Weight lifting mainly involves training with weights or strength training.
Weightlifting and the Olympics
Although men’s weightlifting has always been on the programme of the Olympic Games—except for the 1900, 1908 and 1912 editions—women started to participate only at the 2000 Games in Sydney.
The Olympic weightlifting programme has evolved greatly over time. Today, weightlifters compete in snatch and clean and jerk, and are placed according to their total combined result. From the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney onwards, men have competed in eight weight categories and women in seven.
Athletes competed in seven men’s and women’s weightlifting classes at Tokyo 2020.
Best Weightlifters to watch
Weightlifters from the People’s Republic of China have been the dominant force in the sport for many years.
Li Fabin, Shi Zhiyong, Lasha Talakhadze, Hou Zhihui, Kuo Hsing-Chun, Katherine Nye, Mattie Rogers are among some of the best weightlifters to keep an eye on.
Weightlifting Competition Rules at Paris 2024
In total, 120 athletes competed in the Paris 2024 weightlifting competition, a drop from 196 in Tokyo. For each weight category established at Paris 2024, a maximum of 12 athletes competed.
The weightlifting competition in each weight category was composed of two events: snatch, and clean and jerk.
The weight classes for men were 61kg, 73kg, 89kg, 102kg, and +102kg.
For women, the weight classes were 49kg, 59kg, 71kg, 81kg, and +81kg.
For each event, athletes had three attempts, with the best result used for the calculation of the total results. The final ranking was based on the total weight that the athletes managed to lift.
