 | |
| Highest governing body | International Weightlifting Federation |
|---|---|
| First developed | Ancient Greece |
| Characteristics | |
| Contact | No |
| Mixed-sex | No |
| Type | Power sport |
| Equipment | Barbells, weight plates, collars, chalk, tape, heel-elevated shoes, belt, knee sleeves, wrist wraps |
| Presence | |
| Country or region | Worldwide |
| Olympic | Men: 1896, 1904, 1920–present; Women: 2000–present |
| World Games | Women: 1997 |
Weightlifting (often known as Olympic 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 (the clean), and then from the shoulders to over the head (the jerk). 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 (explosive strength): 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 (e.g., power snatch, power clean) as well as components of the Olympic lifts (e.g., cleans, squats) are used by elite athletes in other sports to train for both explosive strength (power) and functional strength.