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Wang shows off her first gold medal

The weightlifting competition started off small but strong for China’s Mingjuan Wang who brings home the gold in the 48kg match leaving Japan’s Hiromi Miyaki with the silver and Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (PRK) Chun Hwa Ryang trailing behind with the bronze medal.

At 4’11” and weighing only 106lbs, Wang won her first weightlifting gold medal by lifting 91 kg in the snatch and 114 in the clean and jerk for a total of 205, just 8 more kgs than Miyaki who totaled in at 197 kg with 87 kg in the snatch and 110 in the clean and jerk. Ryang only trailed by 5 kgs with 80kg in the snatch and 112 in the clean and jerk.

Chia’s Li Xueying 58 kg weightlifter also brought home the gold for the women’s team. The men’s team is also leading with the most gold medals in weightlifting.

Expect yelps and facial expressions to get crazier as the classes get higher and the weight gets heavier in the upcoming weeks. The US team did not compete in this class.

Two of the team members are competing in the 75+kg competition.

Let’s start with the basics so that we can understand what we are seeing when we watch an Olympic weightlifting match and what the announcer is saying while reporting:

Format- according to official Olympic guidelines:

There are seven weight categories within the women’s competition and within each category: the competitors can attempt to lift up to more than three times their body weight

–          48 kg (106 lb)

–          53 kg (117 lb)

–          58 kg (128 lb)

–          63 kg (139 lb)

–          69 kg (152 lb)

–          75 kg (165 lb)

–          75 + kg (165+ lbs)

Format Rules- according to Olympic Guidelines

There are three allowed  attempts at the Snatch and the Clean and Jerk

An athlete’s best lift in each attempt is combined to determine the overall result

If an athlete fails to make a valid lift with any of their three attempts in the snatch, they are eliminated.

When there is a tie in lift weight: the athlete with the lower body weight is declared the winner

However, if two athletes lift the same total weight and have the same body weight, the winner is the athlete who lifted the total weight first.

Moves-

There are two types of “lifts”, the first is the “snatch” where the barbell  is lifted from the floor in a squatting position to above the head in a single swift body movements. The “clean and jerk” is where the bar is first brought up to the shoulders before being jerked over the head with the elbows facing outward.

Dictionary- according to the Olympic Guidelines

No lift – a lift that is judged to be unsuccessful by at least two of the three referees
Press out – “an illegal move where the lifter bends the arms while holding the bar overhead, then presses them out to straighten them
Squat – to drop while bending the legs, with the feet shoulder width a part and knees coming right above the toes so that the body is properly aligned

Let’s start with the basics so that we can understand what we are seeing when we watch an Olympic weightlifting match and what the announcer is saying while reporting:

Format- according to official Olympic guidelines:

There are seven weight categories within the women’s competition and within each category: the competitors can attempt to lift up to more than three times their body weight

–          48 kg (106 lb)

–          53 kg (117 lb)

–          58 kg (128 lb)

–          63 kg (139 lb)

–          69 kg (152 lb)

–          75 kg (165 lb)

–          75 + kg (165+ lbs)

Format Rules- according to Olympic Guidelines

There are three allowed  attempts at the Snatch and the Clean and Jerk

An athlete’s best lift in each attempt is combined to determine the overall result

If an athlete fails to make a valid lift with any of their three attempts in the snatch, they are eliminated.

When there is a tie in lift weight: the athlete with the lower body weight is declared the winner

However, if two athletes lift the same total weight and have the same body weight, the winner is the athlete who lifted the total weight first.

Moves-

There are two types of “lifts”, the first is the “snatch” where the barbell  is lifted from the floor in a squatting position to above the head in a single swift body movements. The “clean and jerk” is where the bar is first brought up to the shoulders before being jerked over the head with the elbows facing outward.

Dictionary- according to the Olympic Guidelines

No lift – a lift that is judged to be unsuccessful by at least two of the three referees
Press out – “an illegal move where the lifter bends the arms while holding the bar overhead, then presses them out to straighten them
Squat – to drop while bending the legs, with the feet shoulder width a part and knees coming right above the toes so that the body is properly aligned

Qualified: Sarah Robles and Holley Mangold

Weightlifting has always been a male dominated sport. It started in the 1800’s and has lasted for centuries and has increasingly become popular through World Championship competitions. However, women’s Olympic weightlifting had only been implemented at the Olympic Games in 2000 in Sydney Australia, where Tara Nott took home the Gold for the USA Women’s Olympic Weightlifting team.

According to livestrong.com, the very first known female weightlifter was Ivy Russell from England, who started her career as a weightlifter at the age of 14 in 1921. Russell was the first woman to win a weightlifting contest in the 1930’s. It was not until the 1960’s and on that weightlifting competition championships and bodybuilding started to become popular because of athletes like Arnold Schwarzenegger and the popular rise of bodybuilding championships in California. Since then female athletes started to join the championship ranks; Karyn Marshall who competed internationally in (Jakarta, Manchester and Sarajevo) and Judy Glenney who competed in the Women’s National Championships, the Master’s National Championships and the World Master’s championships.

Both women were popular competitors in the early 1980’s and won several championship titles. The rise in popularity among women weightlifters eventually led to the Olympics introducing weightlifting as a competition in 2000. The men’s Olympic Weightlifting has been in place since the late 1800’s.

The qualifications to be an Olympic weightlifting competitor are pretty tough to meet. Countries are able to enter up to 10 athletes into the qualification round split between men and women. There are also individual qualification spots for athletes ranked in the top 15^th places within each body weight category.

There are seven different body weight categories in the Olympic games;

–          48 kg (106 lb)

–          53 kg (117 lb)

–          58 kg (128 lb)

–          63 kg (139 lb)

–          69 kg (152 lb)

–          75 kg (165 lb)

–          75 + kg; which the two USA women’s team members are competing in

Olympic Weightlifting is judged by two succinct moves; the “snatch” and “clean and jerk.” According to Olympic format rules; “each lifter is allowed three attempts at the Snatch and three attempts at the Clean and Jerk and their best lift in each is combined to determine their overall result. If an athlete fails to make a valid lift with any of their three attempts in the snatch, they are eliminated. When a tie occurs, the athlete with the lower bodyweight is declared the winner. If two athletes lift the same total weight and have the same bodyweight, the winner is the athlete who lifted the total weight first.”

For the US women’s team, the athletes that will be competing in the 2012 games are Sarah Robles from San Jacinto California who was named “America’s strongest woman” and Holley Mangold, from Dayton Ohio who is popular from her appearance on MTV’s True Life: I’m the big girl, TV documentary and also because she is the younger sister of Jets center Nick Mangold. Both women are competing in the 75+ weight class.

Qualified: Sarah Robles and Holley Mangold

Weightlifting has always been a male dominated sport. It started in the 1800’s and has lasted for centuries and has increasingly become popular through World Championship competitions. However, women’s Olympic weightlifting had only been implemented at the Olympic Games in 2000 in Sydney Australia, where Tara Nott took home the Gold for the USA Women’s Olympic Weightlifting team.

According to livestrong.com, the very first known female weightlifter was Ivy Russell from England, who started her career as a weightlifter at the age of 14 in 1921. Russell was the first woman to win a weightlifting contest in the 1930’s. It was not until the 1960’s and on that weightlifting competition championships and bodybuilding started to become popular because of athletes like Arnold Schwarzenegger and the popular rise of bodybuilding championships in California. Since then female athletes started to join the championship ranks; Karyn Marshall who competed internationally in (Jakarta, Manchester and Sarajevo) and Judy Glenney who competed in the Women’s National Championships, the Master’s National Championships and the World Master’s championships.

Both women were popular competitors in the early 1980’s and won several championship titles. The rise in popularity among women weightlifters eventually led to the Olympics introducing weightlifting as a competition in 2000. The men’s Olympic Weightlifting has been in place since the late 1800’s.

The qualifications to be an Olympic weightlifting competitor are pretty tough to meet. Countries are able to enter up to 10 athletes into the qualification round split between men and women. There are also individual qualification spots for athletes ranked in the top 15^th places within each body weight category.

There are seven different body weight categories in the Olympic games;

–          48 kg (106 lb)

–          53 kg (117 lb)

–          58 kg (128 lb)

–          63 kg (139 lb)

–          69 kg (152 lb)

–          75 kg (165 lb)

–          75 + kg; which the two USA women’s team members are competing in

Olympic Weightlifting is judged by two succinct moves; the “snatch” and “clean and jerk.” According to Olympic format rules; “each lifter is allowed three attempts at the Snatch and three attempts at the Clean and Jerk and their best lift in each is combined to determine their overall result. If an athlete fails to make a valid lift with any of their three attempts in the snatch, they are eliminated. When a tie occurs, the athlete with the lower bodyweight is declared the winner. If two athletes lift the same total weight and have the same bodyweight, the winner is the athlete who lifted the total weight first.”

For the US women’s team, the athletes that will be competing in the 2012 games are Sarah Robles from San Jacinto California who was named “America’s strongest woman” and Holley Mangold, from Dayton Ohio who is popular from her appearance on MTV’s True Life: I’m the big girl, TV documentary and also because she is the younger sister of Jets center Nick Mangold. Both women are competing in the 75+ weight class.