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.
Launceston Elliot was a Scottish weightlifter, and the first British Olympic champion.
Alexander Viggo Jensen was a Danish weightlifter, sport shooter, gymnast, and athlete. He was the first Danish and Nordic Olympic champion, at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens.
Carl August Berthold Schuhmann was a German athlete who won four Olympic titles in gymnastics and wrestling at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens, becoming the most successful athlete at the inaugural Olympics of the modern era. He also competed in weightlifting.
Sotirios Versis was a Greek athlete and weightlifter. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens and the 1900 Summer Olympics held in Paris.
Three athletes from Denmark competed in five sports at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens. Two of the three combined to win a gold medal, two silvers, and three bronzes, while Eugen Schmidt earned no medals. Viggo Jensen contributed one of each color, while Holger Nielsen earned the second silver and two bronzes. Shooting and weightlifting were Denmark's most successful sports. Denmark had 15 entries in 12 events, winning six medals.
Germany competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. The Germans were the third most successful nation in terms of both gold medals and total medals (13). Gymnastics was the sport in which Germany excelled. The German team had 19 athletes. The Germans had 75 entries in 26 events, taking 13 medals.
Ten athletes from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland competed in seven sports at the 1896 Summer Olympics. The Great Britain athletes were the fifth most successful in terms of overall medals (7) and tied for fifth in gold medals (2). The 7 medals came on 23 entries in 14 events.
Greece was the host nation of the 1896 Summer Olympics held in Athens. The number of Greek contestants is commonly cited as 169, but as many as 176 Greeks contested events in all nine sports. The Greeks were by far the most successful nation in terms of total medals with 47, 27 more than the United States of America. Nevertheless, their number of first-place finishes (10) was one fewer than the Americans' 11. The Greeks had 172 entries in 39 events. Only 4 events had no Greek entrants—the 400 metres and the high jump in athletics and the vault and the team horizontal bar in gymnastics.
Alexandros Nikolopoulos was a Greek weightlifter. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens. In the one-handed event now known as the snatch, Nikolopoulos finished third out of the four lifters. He lifted 57.0 kilograms with one hand, matching the silver medallist Viggo Jensen, but could only manage 40.0 kilograms with the other, the same as fourth-place finisher Sotirios Versis.
Weightlifting has been contested at every Summer Olympic Games since the 1920 Summer Olympics, in Antwerp, Belgium, as well as twice before then. It debuted at the 1896 Summer Olympics, in Athens, Greece, and was also an event at the 1904 Games.
The men's rope climbing was one of eight gymnastics events on the Gymnastics at the 1896 Summer Olympics programme. The final event in the gymnastics competition, rope climbing was held on 10 April. The rope was 14 metres long, suspended from a frame. Time and style were considered in placing the competitors who reached the top and distance climbed separating those who did not make it all the way up. Five competitors entered, with the two Greeks taking top honors by being the only two to complete the climb. The German Fritz Hofmann won the bronze medal, while the weightlifting champions Viggo Jensen and Launceston Elliot finished fourth and fifth.
The men's two hand lift was one of two weightlifting events held as part of the Weightlifting at the 1896 Summer Olympics program. The two-handed lift was the first weightlifting event on 7 April. Six athletes took part. Viggo Jensen of Denmark and Launceston Elliot of the United Kingdom both lifted 111.5 kilograms, and the tie was broken by a determination by Prince George that Jensen had performed the lift with better form than had Elliot. A protest by the British delegation resulted in each athlete being given further attempts to improve their scores. Neither did, and the results stood as originally declared with Jensen taking the gold medal. Jensen had, however, suffered from the extra lifts in that he experienced a slight injury in trying to lift more than he was able.
The Solomon Islands sent a delegation to compete at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain from 25 July to 9 August 1992. This was the nation's third appearance at a Summer Olympic Games. The delegation consisted of a single weightlifter, Leslie Ata, who finished 29th in the men's under 75 kilograms event.
Indonesia competed in the 2008 Summer Olympics, held in Beijing, People's Republic of China from August 8 to August 24, 2008. At the games, twenty-two Indonesians had qualified to compete, while the other three had been granted a wildcard entry.
The men's 56 kilograms weightlifting event was the lightest men's event at the weightlifting competition, limiting competitors to a maximum of 56 kilograms of body mass. The whole competition took place on August 10, but was divided in two parts due to the number of competitors. Group B weightlifters competed at 10:00, and Group A, at 19:00. This event was the third Weightlifting event to conclude.
Nauru competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, which was held from 27 July to 12 August 2012. The country's participation at London marked its fifth appearance in the Summer Olympics since its debut at the 1996 Summer Olympics. The delegation consisted of two participants: Sled Dowabobo in the men's lightweight judo contest and Itte Detenamo in the men's super-heavyweight weightlifting competition. Dowabobo qualified as one of Oceania's highest ranked judo competitors while Detenamo made the Games based on his qualifying performance. Detenamo was the flag bearer for both the opening and closing ceremonies. Dowabobo was eliminated by his opponent Navruz Jurakobilov in the round of 64 and Detemano was 14th in his event.
Weightlifting or weight lifting generally refers to physical exercises and sports in which people lift weights, often in the form of dumbbells or barbells. 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.
Khumukcham Sanjita Chanu is an Indian weightlifter. Born in Kakching Khunou, Kakching district, Manipur, she is a two time Commonwealth Games Champion. Chanu won the gold medals at the 2014 Glasgow and the 2018 Gold Coast events in the women's 48 kg and 53 kg weight category respectively. She holds the Commonwealth Games record of 84 kg for the Snatch segment in the latter weight category.
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.
