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.
Powerlifting is a competitive strength sport that consists of three attempts at maximal weight on three lifts: squat, bench press, and deadlift. As in the sport of Olympic weightlifting, it involves the athlete attempting a maximal weight single-lift effort of a barbell loaded with weight plates. Powerlifting evolved from a sport known as "odd lifts", which followed the same three-attempt format but used a wider variety of events, akin to strongman competition. Eventually, odd lifts became standardized to the current three.
Strength athletics is the collection of strength sports which measure physical strength, based on both: non-standard and historical implements as seen in Strongman and Highland games, and standardized and calibrated equipment as seen in Powerlifting and Weightlifting.
The deadlift is a weight training and strength training exercise in which a loaded barbell or bar is lifted off the ground to the level of the hips, torso perpendicular to the floor, before being placed back on the ground. It is one of the three powerlifting exercises, along with the squat and bench press, as well as a frequent lift in strongman. It is also occasionally used in armlifting.
Douglas Ivan Hepburn was a Canadian strongman and weightlifter. He won weightlifting gold medals in the 1953 World Weightlifting Championships as well as the 1954 British Empire Games in the heavyweight division. He is also known as the first man to bench press 400, 450, 500, and 550 pounds (raw). During the 1950s he was publicly known as the "world's strongest man" for his many feats of strength. Hepburn has been inducted into the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame (1953), Canada's Sports Hall of Fame (1955), and the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame (1966).
Paul Edward Anderson was an American weightlifter, powerlifter and strongman. He was an Olympic gold medalist, a world champion, and a two-time national champion in Olympic weightlifting. Anderson contributed significantly to the development of competitive powerlifting and is widely considered one of the strongest humans in history.
Tamio "Tommy" Kono was an American weightlifter of Japanese descent. A two-time Olympic gold medalist, Kono set world records in four different weight classes: lightweight, middleweight, light-heavyweight and middle-heavyweight.
USA Weightlifting, otherwise known as USAW, is the national governing body overseeing the sport of weightlifting in the United States. USAW is a member of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), responsible for conducting weightlifting programs throughout the country, and a member of the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF). Top competitors are selected by USAW to compete in major international events such as the Olympic Games, World Championships, World Junior Championships, Pan American Championships and Pan American Games.
Mario Alvarez Martinez was an Olympic weightlifter for the United States. His coach was Jim Schmitz.
Hook grip is a method of gripping a barbell used in many strength-related sports such as Olympic weightlifting, Crossfit, and powerlifting by overlapping the index and middle finger over the thumb. This method of gripping the bar provides a secure bar grip while performing pulling motion with the barbell such as the clean and jerk, snatch, and deadlift. To perform a hook grip one must first wrap their thumb around the bar placing it parallel to the barbell and then wrap their index, and middle finger around the outside of the thumb. The pinky and ring finger typically ends up resting on the barbell. It is important to actively hooking on to the thumb with the index and middle finger while performing Hook grip compared to providing direct pressure on to the thumb.
Ivan Chakarov, also known as "James Dean" of weightlifting, born 1966, is a Bulgarian world class weightlifter who won gold medals in the 91 kg class at the 1993 World Weightlifting Championships in Melbourne, Australia and in the 90 kg class at the 1991 European Weightlifting Championships in Władysławowo, Poland. He also competed in the men's middle heavyweight event at the 1992 Summer Olympics. Chakarov won European Cup with the team of Bulgaria in Angers 1988 and Sofia 1989. He began training in 1979 at the Chernomorets Burgas Club. His first coach is Konstantin Darov. Chakarov competed for Chernomorets until 1985. After that, until the end of his long and successful career, he competed only for CSKA Sofia. His personal coaches were Andon Nikolov, Rumen Alexandrov and Neno Terziyski. Chakarov has set two world records.
Hidilyn Francisco Diaz-Naranjo is a Filipino weightlifter and airwoman. She holds two Olympic records in weightlifting for her performance at the women's 55 kg category for weightlifting at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Nicolae "Nicu" Vlad is a retired heavyweight weightlifter from Romania. He competed for Romania at the 1984, 1988, 1992 and 1996 Olympics and won a gold, a silver and a bronze medal. He won the world title in 1984, 1986 and 1990 and European title in 1985 and 1986 and set world records in the snatch in 1986 and 1993. Between 1991 and 1996, he lived in Australia and competed for it internationally. In 2006, he was elected member of the International Weightlifting Federation Hall of Fame. He is still especially noteworthy for achieving the heaviest-ever snatch of double-bodyweight—lifting 200.5 kg in the 100 kg class.
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.
Sarah Elizabeth Robles is an American weightlifter. She qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London and earned a bronze medal in weightlifting at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, becoming the first US athlete to medal in Olympic weightlifting in 16 years. She repeated her feat in the +87 kg category at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, once again earning bronze, and becoming the first US woman to earn two Olympic weightlifting medals.
Jon Frederic Cole was a discus thrower,powerlifter, Olympic weightlifter and strongman from the United States. He competed in powerlifting just prior to the formation of the International Powerlifting Federation (IPF). Having set world records in the squat, deadlift and Total during his career, he was multiple times AAU US National Powerlifting Champion as well as an outstanding Olympic weightlifter, discus thrower and shot-putter. Being the "premier strongman" of the early 1970s for his overall excellence in powerlifting, Olympic lifting and strength-based track and field, Cole was at one time known as the "strongest man in the world" for holding the greatest combined powerlifting/weightlifting super total of all time. Jon Cole was not only officially the first man in history to total 2200 lbs, he also became the first man to squat over 900 lbs as well as the first to total 2300 lbs in competition on October 28, 1972. Today, he is enjoying legendary status in the powerlifting scene and is widely considered to be one of the all-time greatest powerlifters in the history of the sport. His lifts, which are considered as raw by today's standards, are still mostly unequaled in his weight class: He still holds the all-time greatest raw (unequipped) powerlifting totals in the 242 and the 308-pound division. While past his prime as a lifter, he competed in the first annual World's Strongest Man competition in 1977, where he finished in 6th place.
Weightlifting or weight lifting generally refers to physical exercises and sports in which people lift weights, often in the form of. People engage in weightlifting for a variety of different reasons. These can include: developing physical strength; promoting health and fitness; competing in weightlifting sports; and developing a muscular and aesthetic physique.
Guy Albert Carlton was an American weightlifter who won a bronze medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics and a silver medal at the 1979 Pan American Games.
Dragomir A. Cioroslan is a former three-time Olympian, Olympic bronze medalist middleweight weightlifter born in Romania. He has lived in the United States since 1990.
British Weight Lifting (BWL) is a trading name of the British Weight Lifters' Association Ltd (BWLA), the National Governing Body (NGB) in the United Kingdom for the sports of weightlifting and para powerlifting. The Association was initially established in 1910. From 1911 to 2003 its name was the British Amateur Weight Lifters' Association (BAWLA); and in 1957, it was incorporated as a limited company.
United States