Weightlifting
cctv.com 08-02-2004 09:08
Although Weightlifting is considered the sport of strength, history has shown that the athlete's strength must be accompanied by skills developed from a knowledgeable trainer.
Weightlifting consists of two movements executed in a standard order: first the snatch and then the clean and jerk. There are both men and women Weightlifting events. Each athlete has the right to three attempts for each movement. The athlete鈥檚 best performances in both movements are put together to determine the final placement.
ATHENS 2004 Weightlifting
During the ATHENS 2004 Games, Weightlifting will be held in the Nikaia Olympic Weightlifting Hall. The competition schedule will run through ten competition days, from 14 to 25 August, with rest days on 17 August and 22 August.
History
Although Weightlifting was not included in the ancient Olympic Games sports programme, historical sources indicate that it was very popular as a sport among Greeks, and that Weightlifting competitions were held during feasts. A stone weighing 143.5 kg, which was found at Olympia and dates back to the 6th century BC has an inscription that shows it was a dedicatory offering by an athlete named Bybon, who had lifted it above his head with one hand. A stone weighing 480 kg, discovered in Santorini (Thera), bears an inscription that Eumastas had lifted it off the ground. A cup dated about 500 BC, now placed in a museum in Germany, shows a young Athenian male with a garland on his head in the act of lifting two massive stones. This picture and the inscription that accompanies it led to the conclusion that it was about an athlete who had won a Weightlifting competition.
Depictions of men raising weights have been found in other countries as well. In Egypt, for instance, decorative reliefs on the tombs of the Pharaohs show people lifting utricles or fabric sacks filled with sand.
Weightlifting was on the programme of the first modern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896. This was also the first occasion on which Greek competitors took part. A Greek participant, Sotiris Versis, came third in the 100 kg two-hands event, which was won by a Dane, Viggo Jensen, who lifted 111.5 kg. The winner of the one-hand event was Elliot Launceston, from Great Britain, with 71 kg, and a Greek, Alexandros Nikolopoulos, came third, lifting 57.5 kg. These performances set the first Olympic records. Women鈥檚 Weightlifting was introduced into the Olympic programme at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney.
In recent history, the first World Weightlifting Championship was held in London on 28 March 1891. Seven athletes from six countries took part. The first Women鈥檚 World Weightlifting Championship was held at Daytona Beach, Florida (USA) in 1987 and attracted one hundred participants from twenty-two countries. No less than 71 men鈥檚 championships and 14 women鈥檚 world championships have been held until today. The International Weightlifting Federation was founded in 1905.
The first official Weightlifting competitions in Greece were held in the course of the 4th Zappas Olympics in 1888. The Greek Weightlifting Federation (螘螣螒螔) was founded in 1972, before which time the running of the sport had been incorporated in other federations.
Source:The official website of the ATHENS 2004 Olympic and Paralympic Games
Editor:Wang Source:
