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Weightlifting is an unusual sport. In fact, USA Weightlifting now has fewer than 30,000 registered members nationwide. Weightlifters are a relatively elite group when compared to something like USA Hockey, which has a population of over 600,000 people. With that in mind, it’s easy to see why there’s so much weightlifting misinformation out there. Many people mix up weightlifting with powerlifting or bodybuilding, which are two completely different sports.
About Weightlifting:
Weightlifters must perform two essential movements: the snatch and the clean and jerk. The first is a continuous motion in which the weight is lifted to shoulder level and then over the head in an extended arm position, while the second is a discrete process in which the weight is lifted to shoulder level and then over the head in an extended arm position.
Lifters must lift heavier metal weights in order to advance. The total weight lifted by a participant after lifting an official weight qualifies them is used to determine their score. The highest score determines the winner.
Weightlifting tournaments are organised by the International Weightlifting Federation (IFW). Each country may field a team of ten men and nine women, but only eight men and seven women are allowed to compete. In fact, each category can only have one person.
Weightlifting is one of the world’s most popular competitive sports. Because it is a strength-testing game, it has its own fan base. The Asian Games, World Weightlifting Championship, and Olympics all draw many Asian and non-Asian countries, demonstrating the sport’s global popularity.
Weightlifting is popular in Asian countries, with China and Kazakhstan leading the way in terms of medals won at major competitions such as the World Weightlifting Championship and the Summer Olympics.
Weightlifting is popular in Iran, Indonesia, South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Japan, Uzbekistan, and Iraq, and these countries have produced champions in the sport in the past.
Around 200 lifters from 32 countries competed in the recently concluded 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, with China, Kazakhstan, and South Korea having the highest participation.
The United States of America has the best weightlifting performers among non-Asian countries. The success of the United States of America can be attributed to the national governing body, the USA Weightlifting Association (USAW). The USAW’s weightlifting events culminate with the National Championship and the American Open.
The sport, which originated in Greece, is popular in countries throughout Europe, including Turkey, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Russia, and Greece. The European Weightlifting Federation recognises, organises, and facilitates all major weightlifting events in this region.
Weightlifting is a sport that involves lifting barbells for exercise or competition.
Other activities that use weights but are not weightlifting are weight training, bodybuilding, and powerlifting.
History of Weight lifting:
Weight lifting has a long history. For many primitive societies, raising a specific rock was the traditional test of masculinity. In Greek and Scottish castles, manhood stones, some inscribed with the name of the first lifter, can be found. Locally, competitive stone lifting still exists in Germany, Switzerland, the hills of Montenegro, and the Basque region of Spain. The number of consecutive lifts in a specific time period is used to determine the winner in many of these competitions.
Strong men from the 18th and 19th centuries, such as Eugene Sandow and Arthur Saxon of Germany, George Hackenschmidt of Russia, and Louis Apollon of France, who performed in circuses and theatres, are considered the forefathers of modern weightlifting competition. By 1891, there was international rivalry in London. Weightlifting competitions were included in the reconstituted Olympic Games of 1896, as well as the Games of 1900 and 1904, but were then suspended until 1920. In that year, at the request of the International Olympic Committee, the International Weightlifting Federation (Fédération Haltérophilie Internationale; FHI) was established to standardise events and oversee international competition. The previous Games’ one- and two-hand lifts had been replaced by only two-hand lifts by 1928: the snatch, clean and jerk, and clean and press (described below). The press was closed down in 1972.
Conclusion:
Prior to WWII, the top weightlifters in the Olympics were French, German, and Egyptian. American weightlifters dominated after WWII until 1953. Weightlifters from the Soviet Union and Bulgaria then had a virtual monopoly on world records and titles. By the late 1990s, Turkey, Greece, and China were the top weightlifting countries. World championships were held in 1922–23 and 1937, with the exception of the war years, and European championships were held from 1924 to 1936. The Olympic Games added a women’s weightlifting sport in 2000.
