Weightlifting is the simplest and most instantly dramatic of all Olympic sports. It is a contest between an athlete and the belief in what he can achieve with his mind and body.
Weightlifting is a sport that was practised in both ancient Egyptian and Greek societies. It has always represented the basic athletic activity of showing off strength and power. There is, on the surface, nothing complicated or questionable about weightlifting.
It does require a mixture of timing, speed, technique, brute strength and concentration, but it is basically about a body demonstrating its power. Weightlifting is one of the few sports that featured in the first modern Olympics back in 1896 and is still there in 2008.
Women were allowed to take part in the Olympic weightlifting programme for the first time in 2000. In the Olympics, athletes perform two types of lift. In the snatch, they lift the weight from the floor to arm's length above their head in one movement.
In the clean and jerk, an athlete lifts the weight to shoulder level then jerks it above the head in a second movement.
At the Beijing Olympics, there will be 15 different weightlifting events.
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