History of Olympic Weightlifting

by Rodney Corn

 

The modern-day practice of weightlifting began with the lifting of stones in the ancient cultures of Greece, Egypt, Palestine, and Asia. There is evidence of lifting weights and strength movements on the tomb of the Egyptian Prince Baghti dating from approximately 2040 BC (Stone et al., 2006). Furthermore, in a text written in the late 4th century, Saint Jerome, who is best known for translating the Bible into Latin, is quoted as saying, “In the cities of Palestine is an ancient custom which has preserved to these days throughout the Judaic land, that the young people should use the round stones for practicing. Those stones were lifted in accordance with their individual abilities, some to the knees, the other to the hip, and some individuals lifted it to the shoulder or head height. Overhead lifting strengthens their hands so that they may show their extraordinary strength” (Stojiljkovic et al., 2013). Interestingly enough, lifting objects such as a barbell to the hips, shoulders, and overhead is exactly what is done in Olympic Weightlifting. 

The modern-day practice of weightlifting became noticeable in Europe during the middle part of the 1800’s with many weightlifting and strength training clubs emerging in Austria and Germany (Stone et al., 2006). During the late 1800’s, “lifting” became an actual form of exercise. This form of training produced the strongmen seen in many circuses around the world at that time. These strongmen would perform various one-handed and two-handed lifts, which were the basis of the modern-day Olympic lifts (Stojiljkovic et al., 2013).  

In 1891, the first Weightlifting World Championships were held in London (Stone et al., 2006). Then in 1896, weightlifting made its first appearance in the Olympics (Stojiljkovic et al., 2013). However, weightlifting at that time looked nothing like it does today. Equipment was much different as were the lifts themselves. Competitors performed numerous one- and two-handed lifts in any manner necessary to lift the weight. After appearing in the Olympics only one more time over the next 24 years (in 1904), the sport of Weightlifting formed its own federation in 1905 and was recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1914 (Stone et al., 2006). Finally in 1920, weightlifting formally became an Olympic sport.  

By the 1928 Olympics, the lifts had become standardized and consisted of only three two-handed lifts – the snatch, the clean and jerk, and the clean and press. Weightlifting caught on quickly in the United States. From the 1930’s through the 1960’s the US was one of the most dominant nations in the world producing numerous Olympic champions (Stone et al., 2006).  

One of the nagging issues during this time was the wear and tear on the bars. Competitions would go through numerous bars as they would become damaged and break from the excessive weight and pounding of being dropped. This can have an impact on the weight lifted as well as the safety of the athletes competing.  

In 1957, a Swedish appliance company named Eleiko began to make weightlifting bars from their famed Swedish steel. Then in 1963, these bars were used in the World Championships held in Stockholm, Sweden. At this global event that welcomed 134 competitors from 32 different nations, Eleiko shocked the weightlifting world when their bar was the first ever to last an entire competition without being damaged or broken.  

Later in 1967, Eleiko developed the bumper plate, which came from an idea their workshop manager had to wrap a bicycle tire around the steel plates used at the time. Eleiko further enhanced the performance of their bar by using needle bearings. This allowed the bar to spin more effectively making lifting safer and more efficient.  

Weightlifting as a sport was getting more precise and using better equipment. However, there was still some more streamlining that needed to take place. So, in 1972 due to difficulties in judging, the clean and press was removed from competition. This left the snatch and clean and jerk as the two Olympics lifts, which are currently used today.  

In the 1980’s, women’s weightlifting gained increasing interest and exposure especially in the US and China. The first Women’s World Championships were held in 1987 and were finally included in the 2000 Olympic Games (Stone et al., 2006). 

Historically, elite weightlifters, both male and female, tend to have physical characteristics that may provide advantageous leverage and force production. It has been shown that successful weightlifters typically have shorter limbs and longer torso, higher lean body mass to body fat ratios, and are generally shorter than other athletes with the same body mass. The combination of these attributes can be more ideal for lifting larger amounts of weight from the floor to overhead as it favors greater cross-sectional area of muscle, associated with better force production, as well as better overall leverage (Stone et al., 2006). 

The sport and utilization of Olympic Weightlifting has had a long and storied journey. It has transitioned from lifting heavy objects for show using any means necessary to one of the most elite and technical sporting events in the world. Weightlifting is also one of the most popular and effective forms of training used to enhance performance for both sports and life in all populations.