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.
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.
Matthias Steiner is a retired Austrian-German weightlifter, and Olympic gold medalist.
María Alexandra Escobar Guerrero is an Ecuadorian weightlifter.
Karyn Marshall is an American Olympic weightlifter who won the first women's world championship in weightlifting, held in 1987. She also set 60 American and world records in women's weightlifting and in 1985 became the first woman in history to clean and jerk over 300 lb (136 kg), which she did with a lift of 303 pounds (137 kg). She became a chiropractor and runs a private practice in Shrewsbury, New Jersey while battling breast cancer since 2011. In 2011, Marshall was inducted into the USA Weightlifting Hall of Fame, and she was inducted into the International Weightlifting Hall of Fame in 2015.
Seen Lee is an Australian weightlifter. She won a bronze medal at the 2002 Commonwealth Games and a silver at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. She represented Australia in weightlifting at the 2012 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.
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.
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.
Mohamed Ehab Youssef Ahmed Mahmoud, known as Mohamed Mahmoud or Mohamed Ehab, is an Egyptian weightlifter, and World Champion competing in the 77 kg category until 2018 and 81 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.
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.
Neisi Patricia DájomesBarrera is an Ecuadorian weightlifter, 2020 Tokyo 76 kg Olympic Champion, 6 time Pan American Champion, Pan American Games Champion and 3 time Junior World Champion competing 75 kg category until 2018 and 76 kg starting in 2018 after the International Weightlifting Federation reorganized the categories. She is the older sister of Angie Palacios.
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.
Karlos May Nasar is a Bulgarian weightlifter and is one of the youngest weightlifting world record holders ever. At 17 years old, he broke the senior 81kg Clean & Jerk world record to win the 2021 World Weightlifting Championships in Tashkent, becoming the second youngest world champion in the history of weightlifting at the age of 17 years and 214 days, only beaten by another Bulgarian - Sevdalin Marinov, who became the world champion in the 52 kg in 1985 when he was 17 years and 47 days old. At 18 years old, Karlos broke the world record again, this time in 89kg to win the gold medal in Clean & Jerk at 2022 World Weightlifting Championships, making him the only male weight lifter to hold world records in two different categories. At the 2023 European Weightlifting Championships he set five new World records in the 89kg event in one day in the Junior and Senior categories.
Nina Sterckx is a Belgian weightlifter. She is a three-time medalist at the European Weightlifting Championships and achieved 5th place representing Belgium at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.
Mary Flor Diaz is a Filipino weightlifter competing in the women's 45 kg category.
