The history of the Sport of Weightlifting
Weightlifting dates back to 3000 BC in a Chinese text that describes soldiers lifting weighted objects before entry into the military. The tombs of Pharaohs describe athletes lifting bags of sand.
Sculptures from ancient
Greece illustrate weight lifting. A stone was found at
Olympia dating back to 600 BC. The stone stated that it was lifted by an athlete named Bybon.
The first world weightlifting championship was held on March 28, 1891 in
London,
England. This event consisted of seven athletes from six countries. Levi Laurens, an Englishman, won the first gold medal of world championship.
Weightlifting was added to the Olympics in 1896 in
Athens,
Greece. The first weightlifting competition consisted of two events, the one hand lift and the two hand lift. Launceston Elliott of
Great Britain took the Gold in the one hand lift while Viggo Jensen of
Denmark took the Gold in the two hand lift.
Weightlifting today at the Olympics is still strong now contested by the two handed "Snatch" and two handed "Clean & Jerk". Men and Women now compete across 15 weight classes in both lifts where the winner is decided by highest combined total in each class.
These classes are currently: men's: 56 kg, 62 kg, 69 kg, 77 kg, 85 kg, 94 kg, 105 kg and 105+ kg, and women's: 48kg, 53 kg , 58 kg, 63 kg, 69 kg, 75 kg and 75+ kg.
