The IWF World Weightlifter of the Year award is a prize that can be won by weightlifters participating in events within the sport of weightlifting organised by the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF). [1]
| Year | Winner | Country | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Sun Caiyan |  China | [1] |
| 1992 | Peng Liping | China | [1] |
| 1993 | Chen Shu-chih |  Chinese Taipei | [1] |
| 1994 | Guan Hong | China | [1] |
| 1995 | Chen Shu-chih | Chinese Taipei | [1] |
| 1996 | Li Hongyun | China | [1] |
| 1997 | Tang Weifang | China | [1] |
| 1998 | Tang Weifang | China | [1] |
| 1999 | Ding Meiyuan | China | [1] |
| 2000 | Ding Meiyuan | China | [1] |
| 2001 | Valentina Popova |  Russia | [1] |
| 2002 | Wang Mingjuan | China | [1] |
| 2003 | Liu Chunhong | China | [1] |
| 2004 | Liu Chunhong | China | [1] |
| 2005 | Pawina Thongsuk |  Thailand | [1] |
| 2006 | Chen Yanqing | China | [2] |
| 2007 | Jang Mi-ran |  South Korea | [3] |
| 2008 | Liu Chunhong | China | [4] |
| 2009 | Jang Mi-ran | South Korea | [5] |
| 2010 | Svetlana Podobedova |  Kazakhstan | [6] |
| 2011 | Svetlana Tsarukaeva | Russia | [7] |
| 2012 | Zulfiya Chinshanlo | Kazakhstan | [8] |
| 2013 | Tatiana Kashirina | Russia | [9] |
| 2014 | Tatiana Kashirina | Russia | [10] |
| 2015 | Hsu Shu-ching | Chinese Taipei | [11] |
| 2016 | Sopita Tanasan | Thailand | [12] |
| 2017 | Lydia Valentín |  Spain | [13] |
| 2018 | Lydia Valentín | Spain | [14] |
| 2019 | Katherine Nye |  United States | [15] |
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.
Ilya Aleksandrovich Ilyin is a retired Kazakhstani weightlifter who won four world championships. On 12 December, 2015 at the President's Cup in Grozny, Russia, Ilyin set two world records in the −105 kg class. He lifted 246 kg in the clean and jerk and 437 kg in the total. Ilyin was named IWF World Weightlifter of the Year four times: in 2005, 2006, 2014, and 2015.
Lydia Valentín Pérez is a Spanish weightlifter, Olympic Champion, 2 time World Champion and 4 time European Champion competing in the 75 kg category until 2018 and 81 kg starting in 2018 after the International Weightlifting Federation reorganized the categories. Lydia has won three Olympic Medals, two World Weightlifting Championships, as well as four European Weightlifting Championships.
Antonio Krastev was a Bulgarian super heavyweight Olympic-style weightlifter best known for his 1987 heaviest ever snatch in IWF competition, at 216 kg. This was only equalled by Behdad Salimi of Iran at the 2016 Summer Olympics, and finally surpassed at the 2017 European Championships by Lasha Talakhadze, who now holds the record of 225 kg. Krastev's record was no longer official after the restructuring of the weight classes in 1993 and 1998.
Zulfiya Salakharqyzy Chinshanlo is a Kazakhstani weightlifter. She set a world record in the clean and jerk on 29 July 2012 at the 2012 London Olympics by lifting 131 kg.
The men's 94 kilograms weightlifting event at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom, took place at ExCeL London.
Kuo Hsing-chun is a Taiwanese Amis weightlifter, Olympic gold medalist, five time world champion, two time Universiade champion, Asian Games champion, and five time Asian champion, competing in the 58 kg division until 2018 and 59 kg starting in 2018 after the International Weightlifting Federation reorganized the categories. She has set 11 senior world records in her career.
Chen Lijun is a Chinese weightlifter, Olympic Champion, four time World Champion and two time Asian Champion competing in the 62 kg division until 2018 and 67 kg starting in 2018 after the International Weightlifting Federation reorganized the categories.
Lasha Talakhadze is a Georgian weightlifter, holding the all-time world records regardless of weight category in the snatch, the clean and jerk and the total since 2021.
Rebeka Salsabil Ibrahim is a Latvian-born Qatari weightlifter, two time Junior World Champion and two time European Champion competing in the 58 kg division until 2018 and 59 kg starting in 2018 after the International Weightlifting Federation reorganized the categories.
Sara Samir Elsayed Mohamed Ahmed is an Egyptian weightlifter who won a bronze medal in the women's 69 kg event at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She won the gold medal in the women's 76 kg event at the 2022 World Weightlifting Championships held in Bogotá, Colombia. Originally from the Ismailia Governorate, Ahmed was encouraged to take part in weightlifting by her family and was competing internationally by 2012. At the senior level, she has earned gold medals at the Mediterranean and African Games, as well as the Arab Championships. In Rio de Janeiro, she became the first Arab woman to receive an Olympic weightlifting medal and the first Egyptian woman to receive an Olympic medal on the podium in any discipline.
Martha Ann "Mattie" Rogers is an American Olympic weightlifter. She is a four-time silver medalist at the World Weightlifting Championships. She holds the United States record in the snatch, clean & jerk, and total. She competed for the United States at the 2020 Summer Olympics in the 87 kg category.
Plamen Jelyazkov is a Bulgarian male weightlifter, competing in the 77 kg category and representing Bulgaria at international competitions. He participated at the 1996 Summer Olympics in the 70 kg event. He competed at world championships, most recently at the 2003 World Weightlifting Championships.
Fares Ibrahim Saed Hassouna El-Bakh, commonly known as Meso Hassouna, is a Qatari weightlifter, Olympic Champion, World Champion and two time Junior World Champion competing in the 85 kg, and 94 kg categories until 2018 and 96 kg and 102 kg starting in 2018 after the International Weightlifting Federation reorganized the categories.
Laurel Hubbard is a New Zealand weightlifter. Selected to compete at the 2020 Summer Olympics, she was the first openly transgender woman to compete in the Olympic Games. Prior to making her Olympic debut, Hubbard achieved a ranking of 7th in the IWF's women's +87 kg division.
Katherine Vibert is an American weightlifter, Olympian, World Champion, Pan American champion and Junior World Champion competing in the 69 kg category until 2018 and 71 kg starting in 2018 after the International Weightlifting Federation reorganized the categories. She is a winner of the IWF Female Lifter of the Year for 2019.
This article details the qualifying phase for weightlifting at the 2020 Summer Olympics. The competition at these Games includes 196 athletes. Each competing nation is allowed to enter a maximum of 8 competitors, 4 men and 4 women. The IWF released its qualification list on 28 June 2021.
