Weightlifting

Weightlifting as a sport has been around for thousands of years and the objective remains unchanged – lift more than everyone else. Evidence of the sport dates back to ancient Egypt and Greece, where people lifted heavy stones in contests of strength. Weightlifting re-emerged in the 19^th century, when it became an international sport.

Brief overview of the rules

The Olympic weightlifting programme has greatly evolved over time. Since the Montreal 1976 Games, there are two lifting techniques : the snatch and the clean and jerk. In the snatch, the bar is lifted from the floor to above the head in one movement. By contrast, the clean and jerk is a two-stage action – the bar is first brought up to the shoulders before being jerked over the head. These extremely demanding exercises require exceptional physical strength and ironclad mental resolve.

Today, competitors perform both lifts three times, and their best result in each lift are combined to determine their overall score. The competitor with the highest total score is declared the winner. Men and women will each compete across five weight classes for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Olympic history

Weightlifting featured at the first Olympic Games held in modern history – the Athens 1896 Games. Excluded from the Olympic programme for a few editions of the Games (1900, 1908 and 1912), weightlifting was reintroduced in 1920 at the Antwerp Games and has been included ever since. Women’s competitions first appeared at the 2000 Games in Sydney.

At the beginning of the 20^th century, European countries – particularly Germany, Austria and France – dominated weightlifting. From the 1950s onwards, Soviet athletes topped the podium until the 1990s, when China, Turkey, Greece and Iran took the lead. China has been dominating women’s weightlifting since it was introduced as an official Olympic sport.

Events in 2024

The weightlifting events will take place between the 7th and the 11th of August. Women’s categories :

Women’s categories :

49kg
59kg
71kg
81kg
+81kg

Men’s categories :

61kg
73kg
89kg
102kg
+102kg

Venue in 2024

South Paris Arena

International organisation

International federation : International Weightlifting Federation

https://www.iwf.net/