Olympic weightlifting


Weightlifting is a competitive strength sport in which athletes compete in lifting a barbell loaded with weight plates from the ground to overhead, with the aim of successfully lifting the heaviest weights. Athletes compete in two specific ways of lifting the barbell overhead. The snatch is a wide-grip lift, in which the weighted barbell is lifted overhead in one motion. The clean and jerk is a combination lift, in which the weight is first taken from the ground to the front of the shoulders, and then from the shoulders to over the head. The sport formerly included a third lift/event known as clean and press.
Each weightlifter gets three attempts at both the snatch and the clean and jerk, with the snatch attempted first. An athlete's score is the combined total of the highest successfully-lifted weight in kilograms for each lift. Athletes compete in various weight classes, which are different for each sex and have changed over time.
Weightlifting is an Olympic sport, and has been contested in every Summer Olympic Games since 1920. While the sport is officially named "weightlifting", the terms "Olympic weightlifting" and "Olympic-style weightlifting" are often used to distinguish it from the other sports and events that involve the lifting of weights, such as powerlifting, weight training, and strongman events. Similarly, the snatch and the clean and jerk are known as the "Olympic lifts".
While other strength sports test limit of strength, Olympic-style weightlifting also tests limits of human power : the Olympic lifts are executed faster, and require more mobility and a greater range of motion during their execution, than other barbell lifts. The Olympic lifts, and their variations as well as components of the Olympic lifts are used by elite athletes in other sports to train for both explosive strength and functional strength.

Competition

The sport is competed at local, national, and international levels. The sport is governed internationally by the International Weightlifting Federation, which runs the World Weightlifting Championships each year.

Component lifts

The snatch is a lift wherein an athlete sweeps the barbell up and overhead in one fluid action: the lifter takes a wide-grip on the bar and pulls the barbell off the floor before rapidly re-bending their knees to get themself under the barbell, so that the barbell is supported over their head with arms outstretched. The snatch is then completed by the lifter rising to a standing position while holding the barbell overhead. The snatch demands precise balance.
File:Olympics 2012 Women's 75kg Weightlifting.jpg|thumb|Lidia Valentín of Spain performing a clean at the 2012 Olympic Games in LondonThe clean and jerk is a combination lift, in which the athlete gets the barbell overhead in two stages: first by lifting the barbell into support on the front of the shoulders, a position known as the front rack, and then lifting it from shoulders to overhead. To perform the clean, the lifter takes a shoulder-width grip on the bar and pulls it off the floor, and then rapidly re-bends their knees to get their body under the barbell and "catch" the bar on the front of the shoulders. The lifter finishes the clean by rising to a standing position while holding the barbell on the front of their shoulders. The lifter then uses the jerk to jump into a bent knees position while pumping the barbell overhead. The jerk is completed when the lifter re-straightens the legs so they come to a straight standing position with the barbell held overhead.
A third lift, the clean and press, was also a competition lift from 1924 through 1972. It entails a clean followed by an overhead press. The overhead press is distinguished from the jerk, in that jerking movements, bending of the legs, and displacement of the feet are prohibited. It was discontinued after 1972 due to difficulties in judging proper form.

Weight classes

Athletes compete in a division determined by their body mass. These are the new IWF weight classes, which go into effect on August 1, 2026:
IWF upcoming Men's weight classes
  • 60 kg
  • 65 kg *
  • 70 kg
  • 75 kg *
  • 85 kg *
  • 95 kg *
  • 110 kg *
  • +110 kg *
* indicates weight classes that will be contested at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles:
IWF upcoming Women's weight classes
  • 49 kg
  • 53 kg *
  • 57 kg
  • 61 kg *
  • 69 kg *
  • 77 kg *
  • 86 kg *
  • +86 kg *
* indicates weight classes that will be contested at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles:
Current Weight Classes:
From June 1, 2025 through August 1, 2026, the IWF will use the following weight classes:
IWF current Men's weight classes :
  • 60 kg
  • 65 kg
  • 71 kg
  • 79 kg
  • 88 kg
  • 94 kg
  • 110 kg
  • +110 kg
IWF current Women's weight classes :
  • 48 kg
  • 53 kg
  • 58 kg
  • 63 kg
  • 69 kg
  • 77 kg
  • 86 kg
  • +86 kg
Former Weight Classes:
From 2018 - 2025 the IWF had 10 weight classes, 7 of which were contested at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
IWF Former Men's weight classes :
Categories
  • and over
Only five weight classes were chosen for Paris 2024:
  • 61 kg, 73 kg, 89 kg, 102 kg and over 102 kg.
IWF Former Women's weight classes :
Categories
  • and over
Weight classes chosen for Paris 2024:
  • 49 kg, 59 kg, 71 kg, 81 kg and over 81 kg.

    Official procedure

In each weight division, lifters compete in both the snatch and the clean and jerk. Prizes are usually given for the heaviest weights lifted in each and in the overall—the maximum lifts of both added. The order of the competition is up to the lifters—the competitor who chooses to attempt the lowest weight goes first. If they are unsuccessful at that weight, they have the option of reattempting at that weight or trying a heavier weight after any other competitors have made attempts at the previous weight or any other intermediate weights. The barbell is loaded incrementally and progresses to a heavier weight throughout the course of competition. Weights are set in 1-kilogram increments. If two athletes lift the same weight, they are both credited with it, but in terms of placing, the one who lifted the weight first gets the highest placing.
During competition, the snatch event takes place first, followed by a short intermission, and then the clean and jerk event. There are two side judges and one head referee who together provide a "successful" or "failed" result for each attempt based on their observation of the lift within the governing body's rules and regulations. Two successes are required for any attempt to pass. Usually, the judges' and referee's results are registered via a lighting system, with a white light indicating a "successful" lift and a red light indicating a "failed" lift. This is done for the benefit of all in attendance, be they athlete, coach, administrator, or audience. In addition, one or two technical officials may be present to advise during a ruling.
Lifters who fail to successfully complete at least one snatch and at least one clean and jerk fail to total, and receive an "incomplete" entry for the competition.

Local competition rules

At local competitions, a "Best Lifter" title is commonly awarded. It is awarded to both the best men's and women's lifters. The award is based on a formula which employs the "Sinclair coefficient", a coefficient derived and approved by the sport's world governing body, which allows for differences in both gender and bodyweight. When the formula is applied to each lifter's overall total and then grouped along with the other competitors' and evaluated, it provides a numeric result which determines the competition's best overall men's and women's lifters. And while, usually, the winner of the heaviest weight class will have lifted the most overall weight during the course of a competition, a lifter in a lighter weight class may still have lifted more weight both relative to their own bodyweight, and to the Sinclair coefficient formula, thereby garnering the "Best Lifter" award.

History

Competitions to establish who can lift the heaviest weight have been recorded throughout civilization, with the earliest known recordings including those found in Egypt, China, India, and Ancient Greece.

Early international competitions

The international sport of weightlifting began with the First World Weightlifting Championships in 1891, in London, with Edward Lawrence Levy becoming the first world champion.
In 1896, the inaugural Olympic Games in Athens included weightlifting in the field event. In the early Olympic Games, a distinction was drawn between lifting with 'one hand' only and lifting with 'two hands', and all competitors competed together regardless of their size and weight. The winner of the 'one hand' competition in 1896 was Launceston Elliot of Scotland, while the winner of the 'two hands' event was Viggo Jensen of Denmark.
Further World Weightlifting Championships followed in 1898 in Austria, 1899 in Milan, and 1903 in Paris, with the International Weightlifting Federation being founded in 1905.
Weightlifting was next contested at the Olympics in the 1904 Games, and at the 1906 Intercalated Games, but was omitted from the Games of 1900, 1908 and 1912.

Olympic Games 1920–1972

In 1920, weightlifting returned to the Olympics and, for the first time, as an event in its own right – and weightlifting has been contested at every Olympics Games since. The 1920 Games took place at Antwerp in Belgium; and fourteen nations competed. The competition lifts were the 'one hand' snatch, the 'one hand' clean and jerk and the 'two hands' clean and jerk. At the next Olympic Games, in Paris, in 1924, the 'two hands' press and the 'two hands' snatch were added to the program, making a total of five lifts; and weight classes were introduced for competitors, with weightlifters competing in five weight divisions.File:RIAN archive 484445 Winners of the weightlifting competition in the 1980 Olympics.jpg|thumb|The 110 kg division weightlifting winners at the 1980 Summer Olympics, held in Moscow
In 1928, the sport dropped the 'one hand' exercises, going forward with three 'two hand' exercises: the snatch, the clean and press, and the clean and jerk.
The 1972 Olympics was the last Olympics featuring the clean and press, as difficulties in judging proper form led to it being dropped from subsequent competitions. Athletes, rather than "strictly" pressing the weight overhead with an upright torso, had been using their hips and leaning backward substantially. Some athletes were able to initiate the press with a hip thrust so rapid that judges found it difficult to determine whether or not they had utilized any knee bend to generate additional force, something strictly prohibited in the rules. Also prohibited was "excessive layback", but it was considered too difficult to determine what degree of layback constituted a rule violation. As a result, the clean and press was discontinued as a competition lift after 1972.