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, and then from the shoulders to over the head. The sport formerly included a third lift/event known as clean and press.
Hiromi Miyake, born 18 November 1985) is a Japanese retired weightlifter. In the 48kg category, she won the silver medal at the 2012 Olympics and won bronze at the 2016 Olympics. Her father and coach is Yoshiyuki Miyake, who was a bronze medallist in weightlifting at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. Her uncle Yoshinobu Miyake was a gold medalist in weightlifting at the 1964 and 1968 Olympics.
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. He is widely considered as one of the greatest weightlifters of all time.
Zoe Smith is an English weightlifter. In October 2010 she won a bronze medal in the women's 58 kg division at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India, her first senior international competition, to become the first English woman to win a Commonwealth Games weightlifting medal. Smith competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London and finished 12th in the Women's 58 kg division. After missing the 2016 Summer Olympics following an injury, she finished eighth in the 59 kg at the 2020 Summer Olympics. At the 2023 European Weightlifting Championships she won the gold in Clean and Jerk and the bronze in the 64 kg total category. She failed to qualify for the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Om Yun-chol or Um Yoon-chul is a North Korean retired weightlifter, coach, Olympic Champion, and five time World Champion competing in the 56 kg category until 2018 and 55 kg starting in 2018 after the International Weightlifting Federation reorganized the categories. He is 152 centimetres and weighs 55 kilograms (121 lb). Om represents the Amnokgang Sports Team.
Weightlifting was introduced to Armenia in the late 1920s and became widely practiced after World War II. Today, it is one of the country's most popular sports. The sport is regulated by the Armenian Weightlifting Federation. The first weightlifters from Soviet Armenia made successful appearances on the international stage in the 1970s. Vardan Militosyan won a silver at the 1976 Olympics, and later Yurik Vardanyan became an Olympic, World and European champion through the late 1970s and the early 1980s. Oksen Mirzoyan and Yurik Sarkisyan rose to top positions in the 1980s. After its independence from the Soviet Union, Armenia successfully held its weightlifting traditions and continues to be one of the strongest nations in Europe. In 2008, the Armenia team placed first at the European Championship. In the 2008 Summer Olympics Armenia won three bronze medals. Tigran Gevorg Martirosyan is Armenia's only world champion with his successful appearance in 2010.
Vadzim Mikalayevich Straltsou is a Belarusian weightlifter. Competing in men's 94 kg, he is the 2015 World champion and 2016 Olympic silver medalist.
Jasvir Singh is a Canadian weightlifter of Indian origin. He qualified for the men's featherweight category at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, by finishing seventh from the Pan American Weightlifting Championships in Callao, Peru. He is also a five-time Indian and a three-time Canadian champion.
Turan Mirzayev is an Azerbaijani weightlifter. He is a three-time Olympian and a two-time medalist for the 69 kg class at the European Weightlifting Championships.
Grzegorz Witold Kleszcz is a Polish weightlifter. He is a three-time Olympian and a bronze medalist for the super heavyweight class at the 2001 European Weightlifting Championships in Trenčín, Slovakia.
Robert Dołęga is a Polish weightlifter. He won a silver medal for the heavyweight division at the 2000 European Weightlifting Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria, and bronze at the 2008 European Weightlifting Championships in Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy.
Vladimir Vladimirovich Sedov was a Kazakh weightlifter, who competed in men's 94 kg weight category.
Bakhyt Beshimbekovich Akhmetov is a Kazakhstani weightlifter. He is a three-time Olympian and a two-time medalist for the 94 and 105 kg classes at the Asian Games.
Roman Aleksandrovich Konstantinov is a Russian weightlifter. He won the bronze medal for the 94 kg class at the 2006 World Weightlifting Championships in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and eventually claimed his first ever career title at the 2007 World Weightlifting Championships in Chiang Mai, Thailand, with a total of 397 kg. He also added a silver medal to his collection from the 2007 European Weightlifting Championships in Strasbourg, France.
Natalie Burgener is an American weightlifter. She is a multiple-time American record-holder, a four-time national weightlifting champion (2005–2008), and a resident athlete of the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. She also won a bronze medal for the 63 kg division at the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Albert Kuzilov is a Georgian weightlifter. He won a bronze medal for the 105 kg class at the 2009 World Weightlifting Championships in Goyang, South Korea, with a total of 408 kg. In early 2010, Kuzilov ordered a two-year disqualification from the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF), after he tested positive for an anabolic steroid metandienon.
Im Yong-su is a North Korean weightlifter. He won a gold medal in the men's 62 kg division at the 2002 World Weightlifting Championships in Warsaw, Poland, with a total of 315.0 kilograms. He also captured two silver medals at the Asian Games. Im competed for the same division at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, and at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, but he neither completed the event, nor claimed an Olympic medal.
Moreno Boer is an Italian weightlifter. He was born in Pordenone. He is a member of the weightlifting team for Gruppo Sportivo Fiamme Oro, and is coached and trained by Angelo Mannironi. Boer made his official debut for the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, where he hauled 365.0 kilograms in total for a twelfth-place finish in the men's heavyweight class (105 kg).
Artyom Shaloyan is an Armenian-born German weightlifter. He won a bronze medal for the 69 kg class at the 1995 European Weightlifting Championships in Warsaw, Poland. Shaloyan is currently a member of the weightlifting team for AV 03 Speyer, and is coached and trained by Frank Mantek.
Boady Santavy is a Canadian weightlifter from Sarnia, Ontario.
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