Weightlifting

Weightlifting, a sport where competitors attempt to lift heavy weights mounted on steel bars. This sport is a combination of power and technique. The term "weightlifting" is also referred to 'weight training' informally. In competitions, weightlifters compete in one of eight (seven for women) divisions determined by their body mass. For men the classes are 56 kg, 62 kg, 69 kg, 77 kg, 85 kg, 94 kg, 105 kg and 105+ kg. For women the classes are 48 kg, 53 kg, 58 kg, 63 kg, 69 kg, 75 kg, and 75+ kg. DO YOU KNOW There are two different weightlifting events - the "snatch" and the "clean and jerk." In snatch the competitors lift the barbell above their head in one steady movement. This event of 'clean and press' was eliminated due to the difficulty in judging whether the lift was performed correctly. In both the above cases, for a successful lift, the competitors hold the bar steady above their heads, with arms and legs straight and motionless. A third lift, the "clean and press" also simply known as "press", was practiced in the Olympics until 1972. The 'clean and press' differs from the clean and jerk, in which the weight is pressed directly up from the chest in slow controlled motion rather than being jerked. In clean and jerk the competitors first "clean" the barbell from the floor to an intermediate position squating with the barbell resting in front of the neck on the clavicle and deltoid muscles. After this they stand straight while continuing to rest the barbell, then "jerking" the barbell to a position above their head. TOP LIFTERS According to a poll conducted by the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) in 1982 produced Tommy Kono as the greatest weightlifter in history. Tommy Kono represented the US setting 26 world records. He won 2 Olympic Gold Medals (1952 and 1956) and an Olympic Silver Medal (1960). He remains the only weightlifter to set world records in four different weight classes. In the history of weightlifting, only 4 weightlifters have managed to capture 3 Olympic gold medals. Naim Suleymanoglu of Turkey won Olympic gold in 1988, 1992 and 1996, while Pyrros Dimas & Kakhi Kakhiashvili of Greece and Halil Mutlu of Turkey repeated the same, with three successive victories through the 2000 Olympic Games for the two Greeks, and through the 2004 Games for Mutlu.

WEIGHTLIFTING RECORDS Leonid Taranenko of the then Soviet Union holds the heaviest clean & jerk of all time, 266.0kg. He made the record in Canberra, Australia on November 26, 1988. The record for the clean and jerk in the women's 75plus kg class is held by Gonghong Tang of China, who lifted 182.5 kg at the 2004 Summer Olympics.