Since we use it so much in our daily WODs, I thought it might be fun to take a look at exactly where Olympic lifting came from.
It’s almost impossible to trace an exact date of the very first weightlifting championship. Tests of human strength, in one form or another, are probably older than civilization itself. Images of athletes lifting heavy objects, apparently for sport, appear in ancient Egyptian records, in Chinese texts and in Greek carvings. As a sport, weightlifting’s origins can be traced back to ancient Greek and Egyptian societies where stones and bags filled with sand were used to display strength (we sometimes use these objects in CrossFit, as well!). The first organized weightlifting competitions began in Europe in the late 1800’s, and the sport’s first world champion was crowned in 1891. In those unsophisticated days there were no divisions of any kind, and the world crown went to the man able to lift the most weight, regardless of his own size. If you think about it…CrossFit sort of operates on this no-division concept now. We have men separate from women, but size and weight aren’t factored into results with a lot of the WODs.
Weightlifting is a sport rich in history that spans over three centuries: the 19th, 20th and 21st century. Weightlifting was on the program for the first Olympic Games in 1896, as part of athletics, but was left out of the 1900 Games. Lifting reappeared again in 1904, but didn’t return to the Olympic fold again until 1920 when it was admitted in its own right. That same year the IWF (International Weightlifting Federation) was founded.
Although weightlifting is a sport that can be traced back to the earliest of the Olympic Games, it is only in the post World War II years that it has been given prominence in the national media of this country. This has mainly come about because a certain aspect of weightlifting, weight training, has received widespread publicity because of the beneficial effects that it has produced in almost every branch of sport. It is somewhat interesting that already 40 years ago, there were coaches who accepted that weight training could play an useful role in all sports training, yet there are still some today who maintain that it is useless or dangerous! This idea of weight training being valuable and transferable to other sports is part of what the CrossFit philosophy was founded on.
Modern weightlifting really began in the year 1920, when the Seventh Olympic Games were held in Antwerp, Belgium. And although the world was still feeling the effects of First World War, no less than fourteen nations sent athletes to compete for the Olympic weightlifting titles. In those early days, Olympic weightlifting incorporated some events which would seem strange today. The first competitions consisted of one and two-handed lifts with no weight divisions. The one handed lifts were performed with dumbbells, and there were nine different lifts that competitors could participate in. The competition lifts in Antwerp were the One Hand Snatch, the One Hand Clean and Jerk and the Two Hands Clean and Jerk. At Paris, in 1924, the Two Hands Press and the Two Hands Snatch were added to these to make a five-lift championship. However, in 1928 the one armed lifts were finally cut from the program. These established lifts gave way later to the ‘Olympic Three’- the Two Hands Clean and Press, the Two Hands Snatch and the Two Hands Clean and Jerk. The Two Hands Clean and Press was dropped from official competition in 1972, much to the dismay of many athletes. By 1932, five weight divisions had been established and three disciplines made up the Olympic competition – Press, Snatch, and Clean-And Jerk. In 1972 the Press was finally abolished, due to controversies about how it should be judged, leaving the Snatch and Clean and Jerk as the sport’s two Olympic disciplines.
As early as the 1930’s, Strength and Health magazine in the United States consistently promoted weight training, but not competition, for women. Women kind of entered through the back door, via bodybuilding and powerlifting. The Miss Universe bodybuilding contest came first, in 1965. Women got a late start in competitive weightlifting, with their first world championship held in 1987. Then, women’s competition made its Olympics debut in 2000 in Sydney. There are currently eight weight classifications for men, and seven for women.
In weightlifting, pure strength, explosive speed, good flexibility and extreme coordination are essential. It is not necessarily the strongest competitor that wins! This is why practice makes perfect, and attention to form is imperative. Next time you see Olympic lifts in the daily WOD, remember to give a thought to how important those skills have been throughout history. And don’t forget how they continue to be essential to your overall strength and skill, both in and outside of the gym. Now let’s all get lifting like the pros!
