How does Olympic weightlifting work, and what are the two lifts?

Two lifts, three attempts at each, and the winner is decided on the combined total — a structure that makes attempt selection a strategic problem as much as a physical one.

The two lifts:

The snatch. The barbell is lifted from the floor to overhead in one continuous movement. The lifter pulls the bar upward while dropping beneath it into a deep squat with arms locked out, then stands. It is the more technical of the two, demands extraordinary mobility, and less weight can be lifted.

The clean and jerk. Two movements. The clean brings the bar from the floor to the shoulders, again with the lifter dropping underneath and standing up. The jerk drives it from the shoulders to overhead, usually by dipping and splitting the feet. More weight can be lifted than in the snatch — typically around 20% more.

These are the only two lifts contested. The press was removed after 1972, because judging whether a lifter had leaned back excessively proved impossible to do consistently.

The competition format. Each lifter gets three attempts at each lift. The best successful attempt at each counts, and the two are added for the total, which determines placing.

Why the bar only goes up. Weight on the bar increases through the session and never decreases. A lifter nominates their opening weight, and the lifting order follows the weight, not the athlete. This creates genuine tactics:

Opening too heavy risks failing and having nothing recorded — a lifter who misses all three attempts in the snatch bombs out and cannot place at all, regardless of their clean and jerk.

Opening too light wastes an attempt.

Changing your declared attempt in response to a rival is permitted within rules, producing a bidding game in the closing stages.

Judging. Three judges rule each lift good or no-lift, on criteria including full lockout, control, and no press-out.

Bodyweight categories apply, and where totals tie, the lighter athlete wins.