Weightlifting is a 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, and then from the shoulders to over the head.
Vasily Ivanovich Alekseyev was a Soviet weightlifter. He set 80 world-records and 81 Soviet records in weightlifting and won Olympic gold medals at the 1972 and 1976 games.
Shane Hamman is an American Olympic weightlifter and powerlifter.
Kakhi Kakhiashvili is a Georgian-Greek weightlifter, one of only five weightlifters to have won three consecutive gold medals at Olympic Games. He won his first at Barcelona 1992, competing with the Unified Team, and later as a citizen of Greece at Atlanta 1996 and in Sydney 2000. He won three Senior World Championships, was twice a silver medalist at the Senior World Championships, and set seven world records during his career. He was named the 1996 and 1999 Greek Male Athlete of the Year.
Marc Huster is a German weightlifter and sports commentator.
Ronny Weller is a German weightlifter who competed for East Germany and later for Germany.
Norair Nurikyan is a former Bulgarian weightlifter of Armenian descent. He is a two-time Olympic Champion and was awarded the Hero of Socialist Labor of Bulgaria and Order of the Bulgaria, First Degree titles. In 1994, Nurikyan was inducted into the International Weightlifting Federation Hall of Fame.
Mohammad Nasiri Seresht is a retired Iranian weightlifter. He competed at the 1964, 1968, 1972 and 1976 Olympics and won a gold, a silver and a bronze medal. He also won gold medals at the Asian Games in 1966, 1970 and 1974 and at the world championships in 1968-70 and 1973-74, placing second in 1972 and third in 1966, 1971 and 1976. Between 1966 and 1973 he set 15 ratified world records: 10 in clean and jerk, 3 in the press and 2 in the total. In 1995 he was inducted into the International Weightlifting Federation Hall of Fame.
Imre Földi was a Hungarian weightlifter. Competing at a record of five Olympic Games, he won a gold medal in 1972 and silver medals in 1964 and 1968.
Matthias Steiner is a retired Austrian-German weightlifter, and Olympic gold medalist.
Andrey Ivanovich Chemerkin is a former Russian weightlifter. Chemerkin was a gold medallist at the 1996 Summer Olympics, and a bronze medalist at the 2000 Summer Olympics. Andrei had a birthweight of 12,6 lbs and is to this day the heaviest weightlifter ever to win a World Championship.
Andrei Mikalajevič Aramnaǔ is a Belarusian weightlifter, Olympic and World Champion.
The World Weightlifting Championships is an international weightlifting competition, currently held annually by the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF). The predecessor organization of the IWF was founded in 1905, but World Championship events began before its foundation. The first recognized World Championship event was held in 1891, and was won by Edward Lawrence Levy of England.
Lü Xiaojun is a Chinese weightlifter. He is a three-time Olympic champion and five-time world champion competing in the 77 kg category until 2018 and 81 kg starting in 2018 after the International Weightlifting Federation reorganized the categories.
Andrey Makarov is a Kazakhstani male weightlifter, competing in the 94 kg category and representing Kazakhstan at international competitions. He participated at the 1996 Summer Olympics in the 91 kg event and at the 2000 Summer Olympics in the 94 kg event. He competed at world championships, most recently at the 2003 World Weightlifting Championships.
Kuanysh Rymkulov also written as Qwanış Rımqulov is a Kazakhstani male weightlifter, competing in the 85 kg category and representing Kazakhstan at international competitions. He participated at the 1996 Summer Olympics in the 83 kg event. He competed at world championships, most recently at the 1999 World Weightlifting Championships.
Kiril Kounev is a Bulgarian born Australian male weightlifter, competing in the 94 kg category and representing Australia at international competitions. He participated at the 1996 Summer Olympics in the 83 kg event and at the 2000 Summer Olympics in the 94 kg event. He competed at world championships, most recently at the 1999 World Weightlifting Championships.
Christos Spyrou is a Greek male weightlifter, competing in the 85 kg category and representing Greece at international competitions. He participated at the 1996 Summer Olympics in the 70 kg event and at the 2000 Summer Olympics in the 85 kg event. He competed at world championships, most recently at the 1999 World Weightlifting Championships.
Sergei Flerko is a Russian male weightlifter, competing in the +105 kg category and representing Russia at international competitions. He participated at the 1996 Summer Olympics in the 108 kg event. He competed at world championships, most recently at the 1999 World Weightlifting Championships.
Akbar Djuraev is an Uzbekistani weightlifter, Olympic Champion and Junior World Champion. He won the gold medal in the men's 109 kg event at the 2020 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, Japan. He also won the gold medal in the men's 109 kg event at the 2021 World Weightlifting Championships held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
Germany
