Jump to navigation Jump to search This article is about the sport of weightlifting as practiced in the Olympics and similar competitions. Olympic-style weightlifting, or Olympic weightlifting, often simply referred to as weightlifting, is an athletic discipline in the modern Olympic programme in which the athlete attempts a maximum-weight single lift of a barbell loaded with weight plates. The two competition lifts in order are the snatch and russian woman weightlifter clean and jerk. The snatch is a wide-grip, one-move lift.

The clean and jerk is a close-grip, two-move lift. Each weightlifter receives three attempts in each, and the combined total of the highest two successful lifts determines the overall result within a bodyweight category. Based in Budapest, it was founded in 1905. Athletes compete in a division determined by their body mass. In Summer of 2018, the IWF approved the current weight categories, specifying which 7 of the 10 total would be contested at the Olympics. In each weight division, lifters compete in both the snatch and clean and jerk.

Prizes are usually given for the heaviest weights lifted in each and in the overall—the maximum lifts of both combined. The order of the competition is up to the lifters—the competitor who chooses to attempt the lowest weight goes first. 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.