The History of Weightlifting

The genealogy of lifting traces back to the beginning of recorded history where man's fascination with physical prowess can be found among numerous ancient writings. A 5,000-year-old Chinese text tells of prospective soldiers having to pass lifting tests.

Ancient Greek sculptures also depict lifting feats. The weights were generally stones, but later gave way to dumbbells. The origin of the word dumbbells comes from the practice of removing clappers from bells, rendering them soundless during lifting.

The first modern day Olympics were held in 1896 and weightlifting was included as an official sport. Weightlifting did not appear in the 1900 Games, but returned in 1904, and has been a regular event since 1920. In 1932, three lifts were standard: the press (eliminated in 1972), the snatch, and the clean & jerk. In 1932, there were five weight classes. Today there are eight weight classes for men and seven weight classes for women.

The U.S. men, after reigning as World and Olympic Champions through the 1930's, '40s and '50s, were ranked 15th in the world in 1996 after a successful Olympic Games performance in Atlanta, GA. The U.S. junior men are ranked 13th in the world. In 2000, Oscar Chaplin III was Junior World Champion in the 77kg weight class and the United States first and only ever gold medal for Junior Men.

Women's weightlifting has been conducted at the World Championships level since 1987. U.S. women have won medals in eight of the thirteen World Championships and continue to be a power in the world arena. In 1994, U.S. lifter Robin Goad was the World Champion in the 50kg class

Women's weightlifting participated for the first time in the Olympics Games in Sydney, Australia. Tara Nott, a US lifter in the 48kg class was the first woman to earn a Gold Medal in Women's Weightlifting in the Olympics and the first US lifter to earn a gold medal in weightlifting in 40 years. Cheryl Haworth, 75+kg earned a Bronze Medal in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia.

In 2001, the U.S. Junior Women won the team championship at the Junior Worlds including 3 gold medals from Cheryl Haworth. In the 2002 Junior World Championships Cheryl repeated her performance and again captured 3 gold medals as a member of the U.S. Junior Women's team.