Weightlifting

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Weightlifting sees the strongest athletes in the Commonwealth Games compete to raise the biggest possible weights into the air.

Athletes are separated by weight categories and the top athletes can lift three times their own weight.

Tension builds as athletes work their way through increasingly unmanageable weights in this display of super-human strength.

The Commonwealth’s strongest men and women will gather at the NEC to perform their best lifts in the two classic disciplines of snatch, and clean and jerk. With just three attempts in each to make their best lift, the athletes will need to give it their all in order to make the podium in this celebrated test of power, composure and pure brute strength.

Weightlifter Zoe Smith battles to win silver for Team England lifting 115kg.

Zoe had done this weight before, and after a long journey from getting gold in Glasgow, she fought again and returned home with a silver medal.

Women's 63kg

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You might need to know...

In weightlifting each athlete has three attempts to lift the largest possible weight

Weightlifting competition consists of two separate lifts, the snatch and the clean and jerk and each competitor is allowed a maximum of three attempts at each of the different lifts; if they fail to register a valid lift in one of the categories they are eliminated

The athlete who lifts the heaviest weight wins but if two athletes lift the same weight successfully then the winner will be the athlete with the lightest bodyweight

A good lift is judged by three officials who indicate a good lift with a white light on the scoreboard, the majority decision is carried

The winner of the weightlifting competition at the Commonwealth Games will be the athlete who lifts the biggest total weight across the two lifts

Weightlifting has been a Commonwealth sport since 1950 and Team England are currently third on the all-time medal table.

At the Gold Coast, Team England won a host of medals in weightlifting, including a gold won by Emily Godley in the women's 75kg.

Team England previous weightlifting medals

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43

Gold

45

Silver

22

Bronze

110

Total

At Birmingham 2022, weightlifting will be held alongside para-powerlifting at the NEC.

Team Leader

Stuart Martin

Stuart has more than 10 years of experience in performance sport and has led Olympic, World, European & Commonwealth medal-winning teams.

He has occupied a variety of leadership roles, supporting the development of athletes, coaches and practitioners across a number of sports and disciplines.

Stuart led the Team England weightlifting team, in the 2018 Commonwealth Games where they won the most medals in the team's history. He has also led Great Britain to win multiple international medals including the first-ever Women’s Olympic medal at Tokyo 2020, first-ever Women’s World Championship silver medal and first-ever European champion.

Stuart will lead both the weightlifting and para powerlifting teams at Birmingham 2022