Weightlifting began its appearance in Athens in 1896

CAIRO – 7 June 2017: Weightlifting showed up for the first time in Athens in 1896 and was cancelled in 1900 then came back another time in 1904, then it has been adopted as a sport since 1920.

The International Weightlifting Federation was established in 1905 with participation of 14 international authorized members to set the rules for the competitors and to observe the international competitions as well.

Weightlifting is an Olympic sport with two lifts, the first is called the snatch and the other one called clean and jerk, there was another lift called (Clean and Press) but it was cancelled due to the difficulty of judging the proper movement of the weightlifter.

Competitors in weightlifting have three attempts to clean and jerk and three attempts to snatch and the winner is selected on who can collect the biggest score of lifting attempts.

Each attempt is evaluated by three referees, and the game is divided into categories according to weights, men’s weights are 56kg, 62kg, 69kg, 77kg, 85kg, 94kg, 105kg and more, meanwhile the women’s weights are 48kg, 53kg, 58kg, 63kg, 69kg, 75kg and more.