Olympic weightlifting tests raw strength and technique through two lifts performed in front of judges, with the heaviest successful total deciding the winner. The sport is run worldwide by the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF), which has spent the past couple of years reworking its bodyweight categories, so a division that existed a few years ago may no longer carry the same name or weight limit.
Objective
Lifters aim to lift as much weight as possible across two disciplines, the snatch and the clean and jerk, within their bodyweight category. The two best successful lifts, one from each discipline, are added together to give a total, and the highest total wins.
Rules and regulations
- Each competitor gets three attempts at the snatch and three at the clean and jerk, choosing how much weight to load for each attempt.
- In the snatch, the bar is pulled from the floor to overhead in one continuous movement.
- In the clean and jerk, it is first pulled to the shoulders, then driven overhead in a second movement.
- A panel of judges signals each lift as good or no-lift using red and white lights, checking that the arms are locked out, the lifter stands upright and under control, and the bar is lowered under control rather than dropped early.
- The IWF cut its bodyweight categories from ten to eight per gender in 2025, and adjusted the limits again for the cycle running from August 2026, which currently sets men’s categories at 60kg, 65kg, 70kg, 75kg, 85kg, 95kg, 110kg and over 110kg, and women’s at 49kg, 53kg, 57kg, 61kg, 69kg, 77kg, 86kg and over 86kg.
Equipment and playing area
- Lifts take place on a square platform, usually four metres by four metres, using a standard Olympic barbell loaded with colour-coded plates.
- Lifters wear a fitted singlet, along with a weightlifting belt and flat-soled shoes with a raised heel, and are permitted to use chalk on their hands to improve grip.
Scoring
- A lifter’s score is the sum of their best successful snatch and best successful clean and jerk.
- Failing all three attempts at either lift results in no total and elimination from that category’s ranking.
- If two lifters finish with identical totals, the lighter bodyweight is ranked higher.
