Olympic lifters get three snatches and three jerks
In weightlifting, athletes raise a loaded barbell from the floor to arms' length overhead in two ways, the snatch and the clean and jerk. Each lifter gets three tries at both, snatch first, and the score is simply the heaviest good snatch plus the heaviest good clean and jerk, in kilograms.
The snatch uses a wide grip and one sweeping motion: the lifter pulls the bar from the floor, drops under it, usually into a deep overhead squat, then stands up with arms locked, a move that demands exact balance. The clean and jerk takes two stages. A shoulder-width pull brings the bar to rest across the front of the shoulders, typically caught in a deep front squat, and after standing the lifter dips and drives it overhead, most often landing in a split with one foot forward before bringing the feet together.
A third event, the clean and press, ran from 1924 to 1972. It banned leg drive and foot movement during the press, and was dropped because judges struggled to police proper form. The sport has featured at every Summer Olympics since 1920, and its two remaining movements are known as the Olympic lifts, distinguishing them from powerlifting, strongman and general weight training.
Where other strength contests probe raw limits, these lifts also test power: they are faster, need more mobility and move through a wider range than other barbell exercises, which is why athletes in other sports train with power cleans, power snatches and squats. Lifters compete by body mass, in classes that differ by sex and keep changing; new International Weightlifting Federation categories took effect on 1 August 2026, and Paris 2024 used only five per sex, from 61 kg to over 102 kg for men and 49 kg to over 81 kg for women.
Whoever requests the lightest weight lifts first, and the bar rises in one-kilogram steps. Two side judges and a head referee show white or red lights, and two whites pass an attempt; if two athletes lift the same total, the one who got there first places higher.
Source: Olympic weightlifting
