A SHORT DESCRIPTION ON WEIGHT LIFTING.....
What is weightlifting?
Weightlifting is a perfect demonstration of physical strength, technical skill and concentration combined. Lifters compete individually in a competition that requires physical and mental preparedness and eventually tactical skills. Each competition is a final, whereas athletes are ranked in accordance with their performance.
The IWF recognizes two lifts which must be executed in the following sequence:
1.)The Snatch
2.)The Clean and Jerk
A maximum of three attempts is allowed in each lift. There is 1 minute to start the attempt, or 2 if the lifter follows him/herself. The minimum increase is 1 kg between two attempts, except after 1st attempt, when its 2kg. Medals are distributed in both lifts and in Total, this being the combined result of the best Snatch and best Clean and Jerk.
There are eight bodyweight categories for male athletes: 56kg, 62kg, 69kg, 77kg, 85kg, 94kg, 105kg, +105kg and seven for female athletes: 48kg, 53kg, 58kg, 63kg, 69kg, 75kg, +75kg.
Officials of the competition:
The Technical Officials responsible for running the competition according to the IWF rules and regulations are: Jury, Competition Secretary/Director, Technical Controllers, Referees, Timekeeper, Chief Marshal and Doctor on duty.
What the athletes lift and where:
Competitors have to lift a weight called the barbell, which consists of a steel bar (weighing 20 kg for a men's, 15 kg for a women's barbell) onto which differently coloured weight discs (with a weight of 0.5 to 25 kg) are loaded and fastened with the help of collars (weighing 2.5 kg each). The athletes perform the lifts on an elevated stage with a platform of 4X4 meters made of wood and coated with non-slippery material
Referee Lights Equipment/Jury Control Unit:
The 3 referees pass their decision about the correctness and validity of each lift by pressing white or red light buttons on the small device in front of them. When a referee has judged a lift as correctly completed, he or she will press the white light button, or, if the attempt is not correct or missed, a red light button. As soon as two of the three referees have passed identical decisions (white or red), a visible and an audible signal is given to the lifter to lower the barbell to the platform. Lights corresponding to the judgment of the referees light up on a board: Two or three white lights = Good Lift; Two or three red lights = No Lift. The referees' activity should be permanently checked by the Jury with the help of a monitoring device on the Jury table called Jury Control Unit. With the help of this equipment the Jury might overrule/change the referees' decision. The Jury's decision is final and irrevocable.
Scoreboard:
The big scoreboard on the wall helps you to follow the progress of the competition by indicating all the important data on the lifters and the lifts: the start number, the name, country code and date of birth of the athletes, their actual bodyweight which was registered at the Weigh-in starting two hours before the actual competition, the three attempts (good or missed) on the Snatch and on the Clean & Jerk, the Total result, the final ranking and the actual records. An extension of the Scoreboard operating parallel with the one on the stage is installed in the warm-up area to allow the athletes and coaches to apply competition strategies in the interest of a better position.
Timing Clock and Attempt Board:
This electronic board contains information on the athlete just called (name, and country code of the athletes), the number and weight of the attempt to be taken and currently being performed on the platform, and incorporates the timing clock and the referee light signalization. The time for the athlete starts running at the calling of his/her name by the Speaker and the board indicates the remaining time, giving a warning signal when there are only 30 seconds left. An extension of the attempt board and timing clock operating parallel with the one on the stage is installed in the warm-up area to allow the athletes and coaches calculate the time remaining for the next attempts and to apply competition strategies in the interest of a better position.
Computerized Competition Calling and Result System:
In major weightlifting competitions, a complex and sophisticated competition software manages the competition including real time data-feed for the Scoreboard and Attempt Board, defines the calling order, produces documents as the Start Lists before, and the Result Book after the competition,, in full accordance with the rules.
Multi-video Screen:
Replays of the lifts in slow motion from different angles are presented to the public and the media after each attempt to allow for a better observation of the athletes' movements which are very fast in real time.
History & Origins of Weightlifting:
As a basic athletic activity and a natural means to measure strength and power, the lifting of weights was present in both the ancient Egyptian and Greek societies. Boosting its international importance chiefly in the 19th Century, weightlifting was among those few sports (alongside athletics, swimming, gymnastics, fencing, wrestling, shooting and cycling) which featured already on the programme of the first Modern Olympic Games, in 1896, Athens. The first World Championships in this sport, however, had been staged five years earlier: on 28th March 1891, in London, with 7 athletes representing 6 countries.
Weightlifting is thus the only sport whose history in world-wide competitions spans across three centuries: from 1891 through the 20th Century until our days, in 2001.
The power-relations have undergone major changes over the past decades. At the beginning of the century, Austria, Germany and France used to be the most successful nations. Later on, Egypt, then the United States of America reigned. In the 1950s and the following three decades the Soviet Union's weightlifters played the protagonists' role - with Bulgaria becoming a main challenger. Since the mid-'90s, however, Turkey, Greece and China have catapulted to the lead. The most recent word power in weightlifting is Greece among the men. In the women's field, China has been dominant since the very beginning, with other Asian countries emerging as strong contenders to the champion titles. On the overall, however, Europe is the most powerful continent in competitions of both genders.
Modern Day's Weightlifting:
The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) today comprises 167 affiliated nations. Approximately ten thousand weightlifters participate annually in official competitions; weight training, however, is an indispensable tool for strength development for all sports and billions of people all over the world have workouts with the barbell for the sake of fitness. Entry figures of World Championships have increased year by year. The participation record was registered at the 1999 World Championships in Athens, Greece, with altogether 660 athletes of 88 countries taking part.
Including the Olympic Games 2000 in Sydney, the men have competed in 21 Olympic Games, 70 World Championships; the junior men in 27 Junior World Championships. The women already had their first Olympic appearance in Sydney 2000 and took part in 13 senior and 7 Junior World Championships.
The 8,000th medal in weightlifting will be issued at the 2001 World Championships - to a woman in the 63 kg category - in Antalya, Turkey.
Weightlifting at the Olympic Games:
Since 1896, weightlifting featured on 20 Olympic Games. At the sport's 21st Olympic appearance in Sydney, the programme will for the first time include the women competitors as well, in addition to the men. The most successful Olympic weightlifter of all times is Turkish Naim Süleymanoglu, who won three Olympic Champion titles (1988, 1992, 1996). Hungarian Imre Földi is a record holder being 5-times Olympian (1960, 1964, 1968, 1972, 1976), while American Norbert Schemansky is the only one who won medals in four Games: a silver in 1948, gold in 1952, bronze in 1960 and 1964.
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