Weightlifting at 2024 Paris Olympics: How it works, Team USA stars, what else to know

When did weightlifting become an Olympic sport?

The first modern Olympic Games in 1896 included men’s weightlifting, but the sport didn’t become a permanent fixture at the Olympics until 1920. The women’s competition debuted at the 2000 Sydney Games.

How does Olympic weightlifting work?

There are 10 divisions; the men’s and women’s competitions include five weight classes each. Men’s weight classes range from 134 pounds to 225+ pounds, while the women’s classes range from 108 pounds to 179+ pounds.

For the last 12 Olympics, dating back to 1976, Olympic weightlifting has consisted of two events: the snatch and the clean and jerk. The snatch requires a barbell lift from the floor to overhead in a single motion, while the clean and jerk is a two-step movement from the floor to shoulder level, then from the shoulders to overhead. Athletes perform each lift three times, and their final score combines the heaviest lift from each style.

Who are the top Team USA athletes in weightlifting?

• Hampton Morris (men): Morris will compete in the smallest weight class (134 pounds). At age 20, he’ll be competing in the Olympics for the first time but took the gold medal at the Pan American Championships in 2021, 2022 and 2023. The clean and jerk is his specialty.
• Mary Theisen-Lappen (women): Theisen-Lappen will compete in the heaviest women’s division (179+ pounds). She threw the shotput at the college level but eventually turned to weightlifting and will compete in her first Olympics at age 33.
• Olivia Reeves (women): Reeves will compete in her first Olympics at the 157-pound weight class. In December at the IWF Grand Prix II in Qatar, she recorded a 147kg clean and jerk, the heaviest such lift in U.S. history by a non-superheavyweight female.