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.
Ivan Ivanov Ivanov is a Bulgarian former weightlifter and current head coach of the national Bulgarian weightlifting teams. He claimed one gold medal at the 1992 Olympic Games, four time World Champion, and five time European Champion. He won the 1990 World Cup. Ivan also won 1991 World Cup Final in Barcelona and 1990 World Cup Final in Tainan, and in 1989 in Lisbon he finished second. In 1990, he became a gold medalist in Total and Clean, and Jerk and silver, medalist in Snatch of the Goodwill Games in Seattle. Ivanov was named the Best Weightlifter in the World by the International Weightlifting Federation for 1989 and 1990. Ivanov is also a three-time World Junior Champion and twice European Junior Champion. He was elected as the best coach of Bulgaria for 2019 by the Ministry of Youth and Sports of the country together with the trainer on rhythmic gymnastics Vesela Dimitrova.
Li Hongli is a Chinese weightlifter. He is 168 cm tall.
Cao Lei is a Chinese weightlifter. She was born in north China's Hebei Province and was raised in northeastern Heilongjiang Province.
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.
Tigran Gevorg Martirosyan is an Armenian weightlifter. He was awarded the Honored Master of Sports of Armenia title in 2009. Martirosyan is an Armenian Champion, three-time European Champion, World Champion and was temporarily acknowledged as the youngest Olympic medalist from Armenia before being stripped of the medal for doping violations.
Şaziye Erdoğan-Okur is a Turkish weightlifter competing in the Women's −45 kg division. Okur is the current world record holder in the −44 kg division of youth category with 77 kg in the snatch, 92 kg in the clean & jerk events and 169 kg in total.
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.
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.
Fernando Saraiva Reis is a Brazilian weightlifter. He competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics and the 2016 Rio Games, finishing 11th and 5th, respectively. He won a bronze medal in the 2018 World Championships and is a three-time Pan American Games champion.
Vladimir Vladimirovich Sedov was a Kazakh weightlifter, who competed in men's 94 kg weight category.
Chen Lijun is a Chinese weightlifter, Olympic Champion, five 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.
Saikhom Mirabai Chanu is an Indian weightlifter. Mirabai Chanu lifted a total of 201 kg, winning the gold medal at the CWG 2022. She won the silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the Women's 49 kg category. Mirabai Chanu has won the World Championships and multiple medals at the Commonwealth Games. She was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India for her contributions to the sport. She was awarded the sporting honour Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna by the Government of India in 2018.
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.
Simon Martirosyan is an Armenian weightlifter, Olympian, two time World Champion, and two time European Champion competing in the 105 kg category until 2018 and 109 kg starting in 2018 after the International Weightlifting Federation reorganized the categories.
Denis Aleksandrovich Ulanov is a Kazakh Olympic weightlifter. He represented his country at the 2016 Summer Olympics, where he won the bronze medal.
Maude G. Charron is a Canadian weightlifter, who competes in the 63/64 kg category and represents Canada at international competitions. She is an Olympic and Commonwealth Games champion in the women's 64 kg division. Charron also owns the clean & jerk Commonwealth Games record, the snatch and total Canadian weightlifting records, all the Panamerican records in her weight class.
Patricia Strenius is a Swedish weightlifter. She won the bronze medal in the women's 71 kg event at the 2021 World Weightlifting Championships held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
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.
Ghofrane Belkhir is a Tunisian weightlifter. She won the gold medal in the women's 55 kg event at the 2021 World Weightlifting Championships held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. She also won the gold medal in the 58 kg event at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics held in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Belkhir broke the world record for the snatch, clean and jerk, and total in the women's 59-kilogram class weightlifting event at the 5th International Solidarity Weightlifting Championship in Cairo, Egypt in December 2018. As of May 2020, she holds the African junior records for these events in the women's 59 kg weight class.
