An Olympic sport since Athens 1896,
weightlifting has been around as long as boulders.
As a basic athletic activity and a natural means to measure strength
and power, the lifting of weights was present in both the ancient Egyptian and Greek
societies.
Getting a long pole, with weights on each end, up from the floor to
above your head takes more than strength though. In competition, you're going to need
power, speed, technique, concentration, timing.... and good knees.
Women's weightlifting first appeared at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.
There are two types of lifts in Olympic weightlifting: the snatch and
the clean and jerk.
Snatch
The bar is lifted to arm's length, above the head, in one movement.
Clean and Jerk
The bar is lifted to the shoulders as the weightlifter stands up
straight and then jerks the bar to arm's length above their head.
Three attempts are allowed at each lift, then the best snatch and best
clean-and-jerk figures are added to determine the winners.
Men |
Women |
+105kg (super heavyweight)
94-105kg (heavyweight)
85-94kg (middle heavyweight)
77-85kg (light heavyweight)
69-77kg (middleweight)
62-69kg (lightweight)
56-62kg (featherweight)
-56kg, total Men (bantamweight) |
+75kg (super heavyweight)
69-75kg (heavyweight)
63-69kg (light heavyweight)
58-63kg (middleweight)
53-58kg (lightweight)
48-53kg (featherweight)
-48kg (flyweight) |
Yoshinobu
Miyake is one of the strongest men ever, pound for pound. Japan's greatest
weightlifter won silver in the bantamweight at Rome 1960;
and gold medals in the featherweight at the Tokyo 1964 and
Mexico City 1968 Olympic Games.
Naim
Suleymanoglu was born in Bulgaria, defected to Turkey (his parents were Turkish) in
1986 and represented them at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul. Suleymanoglu then went on to win
the gold medal, in the featherweight division, at three consecutive Olympics (Seoul 1988, Barcelona 1992
and Atlanta 1996).
IWF:
Hold u. 1, 1054 Budapest, Hungary.
The International Weightlifting Federation comprises some 167 affiliated nations.
National Federations
Dansk Vægtløftnings-Forbund:
(Denmark).
European Weightlifting
Federation:
The first official European Championship was held on the 9th March, 1896.
Federazione Italiana Pesistica e Cultura
Fisica: (Italy).
Norges Vektløfterforbund:
Norwegian Weightlifting.
Suomen Painonnostoliitto:
(Finland).
Hellenic
Weightlifting Federation:
The attempt of ancient Greeks to combine strength with velocity and flexibility was
probably the main reason why they chose not to include weightlifting in the Olympic Games.
Nevertheless, all athletes used to practice weightlifting as a training exercise.
USA Weightlifting:
USAW is working to become an international power competitively, as well as trying to
broaden young athletes' knowledge of the sport in the United States.
General Weightlifting Links
Clean and Jerk Fems:
The first US women's nationals took place in 1981. Since 1988 the men's and women's
championships have been held at the same location and on the same weekend.
Olympiclifter:
Weightlifting portal.
Weightlifting.
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