'''Weightlifting''' has been an [[Olympic]] [[sport]] since the first modern games in [[Athens]] in 1896<ref>http://www.olympic.org/uk/sports/programme/index_uk.asp?SportCode=WL</ref>. Athletes compete to see who can lift the heaviest weights (in the form of a metal bar with heavy weights on each end). Both men and women compete, and there are several weight divisions for each gender.
Olympic weightlifting has two divisionsevents:
* '''[[Snatch]]''', where the bar must be lifted above the head in one continuous motion.
* '''Clean and jerk''', where the bar is first lifted to just beneath the chin, and then lifted above the head after a short pause.