Weightlifting

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This article describes the sport of weightlifting. For information on muscle-building activity involving weights, refer to the weight training article.

Image:Weightlifting.jpg Weightlifting is a sport where competitors attempt to lift heavy weights mounted on steel bars, the execution of which is a combination of power and technique. The term weightlifting is often incorrectly used to refer to weight training.

Weights are mounted on a steel barbell which weighs 20 kilograms for male competition and 15 for female competition. The weights themselves are rubber-coated steel discs, color-coded for their different weights, and held in place by 2.5 kg collars. Identical weights are placed at each end of the barbell. The barbell has patterns (knurling) engraved on it to assist the lifters to get a steady grip on the bar. Competitors start with the weighted barbell placed in the middle of a 4 x 4 metre wooden floor, coated with non-slip material.

There are two different weightlifting events—the "snatch", in which competitors must lift the barbell above their head in one steady movement, and the "clean and jerk" where competitors first "clean" the barbell from the floor to an intermediate position squatting with the barbell resting in front of the neck on the clavicle and deltoid muscles, then stand straight while continuing to rest the barbell, then "jerking" the barbell to a position above their head. In both cases, for a successful lift, competitors must hold the bar steady above their heads, with arms and legs straight and motionless. A third lift, the "clean and press" or simply "press", was practiced in the Olympics until 1972. The clean and press differs from the clean and jerk, in that the weight is pressed directly up from the chest in slow controlled motion rather than being jerked. The event was eliminated due to the difficulty in judging whether the lift was performed correctly.

Three judges judge the successful completion of the lift. Once a competitor has met the requirements in their opinion, each judge shines a white light. When at least two white lights are shown, the lift is regarded as successful and the competitor may return the bar to the platform. If the competitor fails to achieve a successful lift in the opinion of a judge, a red light is shown. The bar must be lifted to at least knee level within 60 seconds of the bar being loaded or the lift does not count. If the competitor is making two consecutive lifts then they are permitted 120 seconds for the second lift.

Competitors compete in one of eight (seven for women) divisions determined by their body mass. The men's classes are 56 kg, 62 kg, 69 kg, 77 kg, 85 kg, 94 kg, 105 kg and 105+ kg. The women's classes are 48 kg, 53 kg, 58 kg, 63 kg, 69 kg, 75 kg, and 75+ kg. In each weight division, competitors compete in both the snatch and clean and jerk, and prizes are usually given for the heaviest weights lifted in the snatch, clean and jerk, and the two combined.

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 that lift, or trying a heavier weight later (after any other competitors have made attempts at that weight or any intermediate weights). Weights are set in 1 kilogram increments (previously 2.5kg increments), and each lifter can have a maximum of three lifts, regardless of whether lifts are successful or not.

Weightlifting can be an awe-inspiring spectator sport, as competitors expend massive psychological and physical efforts to lift weights over twice their own body weight. The competitive sport is controlled by the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF). Based in Budapest, it was founded in 1905.

From the 1950s to the 1980s many successful elite weightlifters were from the USSR and parts of eastern Europe, including Bulgaria and Romania. Vasily Alexeyev of the USSR set 80 world records and won two gold medals during the 1970s. Since then, lifters from China, Iran, Greece and Turkey have competed successfully at the international level. In the history of the sport, only four weightlifters have managed to capture three Olympic gold medals. Naim Suleymanoglu of Turkey won Olympic gold in 1988, 1992 and 1996, while Pyrros Dimas and Kakhi Kakhiashvili of Greece and Halil Mutlu of Turkey repeated the same feat, with three successive victories through the 2000 Olympic Games for the two Greeks, and through the 2004 Games for Mutlu. At the Athens 2004 Summer Olympics, Dimas won a bronze medal in the 85kg class, becoming the second weightlifter in history to win a medal at four consecutive Games after Ronny Weller. The men's Super Heavyweight Class (at present, the 105+ kg category)--a perennial favorite among spectators--is currently dominated by Iranian Hossein Reza Zadeh who first set a world record at the world championships and another on the road to a gold medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics. Reza Zadeh has since broken his own records on a number of occasions, including at the 2004 Athens Games, where he captured his second olympic gold medal.

The total record in the men's 56 kg class is 305 kg, in the 105+ kg class it is 472.5 kg. The Sinclair Coefficients are used as a tool to devise rankings of weightlifters across different weight classes.

The heaviest snatch of all time, 216kg, is owned by Antonio Krastev of Bulgaria. Leonid Tarenenko of the then Soviet Union holds the heaviest clean & jerk of all time, 266.0kg. These lifts have yet to be beaten in competition.

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