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. The sport formerly included a third lift/event known as clean and press.
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.
Andrei Rybakou is a Belarusian former weightlifter, Olympian and two-time World Champion who competed in the 85 kg category. In 2016, after a retest of his 2008 samples tested positive for Dehydrochloromethyl-testosterone and Stanozolol his performance at the 2008 Olympic Games was disqualified, as well as his Olympic record and World record set during the competition. He was also ordered to return his silver medal.
The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF), is the international governing body for the sport of Weightlifting. It is headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland, has 193 affiliated national federations, and its president since June 2022 is Mohammed Hasan Jalood of Iraq.
Tamás Aján is the former President of the International Weightlifting Federation from 2000 to 2020 and formerly a member of the International Olympic Committee until 2010.
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.
Nauru competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics, that were celebrated in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. Nauru was represented by the Nauru Olympic Committee, and was the only nation out of 204 participating nations and territories that sent only a single athlete, and was one of 117 that won no medals at the Games. The sole athlete to represent the nation was Itte Detenamo, who participated in the weightlifting, and was the flag bearer in both the opening and closing ceremonies. This was the same number of athletes as at the 1996 Olympics, when Marcus Stephen represented the country in the same sport, but was a decrease from the nation's last appearance at the Games when three athletes were sent to Athens. Nauru earned a berth for the weightlifting event in the Oceania and South Pacific Olympic Weightlifting Championships in 2008 and a chance to send participants in swimming and athletics events, but chose to send only a weightlifter. Itte Detenamo competed in the Group B of heavyweight class, fifteenth and last event of the weightlifting. He did not earn a medal, but finished with a personal best.
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. He is widely considered as one of the greatest weightlifters of all time.
Kianoush Rostami is an Iranian Olympian weightlifter. He competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics, in the 85 kg event, winning the gold medal and setting a new world record with a total lift of 396 kilograms.
Won Jeong-sik is a South Korean weightlifter, Olympian, and World Champion competing in the 69 kg category until 2018 and 73 kg starting in 2018 after the International Weightlifting Federation reorganized the categories.
Roxana Cocoș is a Romanian weightlifter.
Loredana Elena Toma is a Romanian weightlifter, two time World Champion and four time European Champion competing in the 58 kg and 63 kg categories until 2018 and 64 kg starting in 2018 after the International Weightlifting Federation reorganized the categories. She now competes at the 71kg category. In 2014 she tested positive for Stanozolol and was banned for two years by the International Weightlifting Federation.
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.
Elena Ramona Andrieș is a Romanian weightlifter, and two time European Champion competing in the 48 kg category until 2018 and 49 kg starting in 2018 after the International Weightlifting Federation reorganized the categories. representing Romania at international competitions.
Chen Jui-lien is a Taiwanese weightlifter, competing in the 63 kg category and representing Chinese Taipei at international competitions. She competed at world championships, most recently at the 1999 World Weightlifting Championships.
Fares Ibrahim Saed Hassouna El-Bakh, commonly known as Meso Hassouna, is a Qatari weightlifter of Egyptian origin. He is an 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.
Hou Zhihui is a Chinese weightlifter, Olympic champion, World champion, and two-time Asian champion competing in the women's 49 kg category.
