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Weightlifting is a sport in which athletes compete to lift heavy barbells in standardized ways, typically involving two main lifts called the snatch and the clean and jerk. It matters as a competitive sport that tests strength, technique, and athletic performance at elite levels.
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Pictogram for Weightlifting at the Summer Olympics Weightlifting (often known as Olympic weightlifting) is a competitive strength sport in which athletes compete in lifting a barbell loaded with weight plates from the ground to overhead, with the aim of successfully lifting the heaviest weights. Athletes compete in two specific ways of lifting the barbell overhead. The snatch is a wide-grip lift, in which the weighted barbell is lifted overhead in one motion. The clean and jerk is a combination lift, in which the weight is first taken from the ground to the front of the shoulders (the clean), and then from the shoulders to over the head (the jerk). The sport formerly included a third lift/event known as clean and press.
Each weightlifter gets three attempts at both the snatch and the clean and jerk, with the snatch attempted first. An athlete's score is the combined total of the highest successfully-lifted weight in kilograms for each lift. Athletes compete in various weight classes, which are different for each sex and have changed over time.