Weightlifting

Weightlifting is a sport where competitors attempt to lift heavy weights mounted on steel bars. Weightlifting is the only Olympic sport in which heavy weights are used.

There are two standard lifts, the the two hands snatch (Snatch) and the the two hands clean and jerk. In the snatch, the bar and weights are lifted in one explosive motion from the floor to full arm's length overhead. In order to perform lift easier, athletes bend their legs quickly while the bar is rising in order to catch the bar at arm's length. The best super-heavyweight weightlifters have lifted nearly 500 lb./227.5 kg with snatch.

The clean and jerk is done in two parts, but they must be completed one immediately after the other. Since the the bar is liften in two stages heavier weights can be lifted than in the snatch. The best super-heavyweight lifters in history have lifted nearly 600 lb./272.5 kg. in clean and jerk lift.

In the first part (clean) the bar is raised in an explosive motion from the floor to a point of rest approximately at the level of the shoulders (rule permits lifting the bar within a zone from the chest above the nipples to a position above the shoulders, as long as the arms are in a fully bent position with the bar resting on the hands in the latter case); the second part, called the jerk, consists of bending the legs and then extending both the arms and the legs to bring the bar to full arm's length over the head in one explosive motion.

Lift is performed easier when athletes drop into "split" position, or simply bend their legs quickly while the bar is rising in order to catch the bar at arm's length.

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There is also a third lift, known as clean and press (or simply press). This one differs from the clean and jerk. In clean and press weight is pressed directly up from the chest in slow controlled motion, while with clean and jerk with an explosive motion. This lift was practiced in the Olympics until 1972, but then it was eliminated because it was too difficult to judge whether the lift was performed correctly.