What Lifts Used To Be Used In Competitive Weightlifting?

As spring dawns, many of us are returning to the gym, either to build up our strength or to load up Olympic plates onto barbells to prepare for competition.

Since the 1976 Olympics, there have been two lifts that have been used in sanctioned competition, with the winner being determined by the highest combined weight of both lifts:

•  Snatch
•  Clean and Jerk

These two lifts, in combination with the Squat, Deadlift and Bench Press found in powerlifting competitions, formed what is now known as the SuperTotal; the five canonical lifts central to competitive weightlifters.

However, whilst only two lifts are used today under International Weightlifting Federation rules, they are far from the only two that have ever been used, and to understand why this is the case, we need to look at how weightlifting has evolved from its earliest days.

What Were The First Lifts Used In Competitive Weightlifting?

The very first weightlifting competitions in 1896 and 1904 (as well as the non-official Intercalated Games in 1906) did not designate a regimented form or strict lift that could be used. Instead, there were two categories and an openweight division:

• One Hand - Whoever could lift the most weight with their dominant arm, with tiebreakers determined by their non-dominant arm.
• Two Hands - Whoever could lift the heaviest barbell with two hands won. Tiebreakers were determined by who had the best form.

Any style could be used in these early competitions, but the most common lift was an early ancestor to the clean and jerk that is now standard in weightlifting competition.

Unlike its untouchable status today, weightlifting was not seen at three Olympic Games (1900, 1908 and 1912), only returning after the First World War in an entirely new format.

What Were The Most Lifts Seen In Olympic Weightlifting Competitions?

The 1920 Olympic Games introduced weight classes and sanctioned lifts, although there were still one-handed and two-handed lifts. In 1920, these lifts were:

• One Hand Snatch
• One Hand Clean and Jerk
• Two Hands Clean and Jerk

This marked the official debut of one of the canonical lifts that have been seen in weightlifting ever since. It also established the event as a combination of different lifts, with the winner being determined by the total of the three successful lifts.

In 1924, this expanded to include two more lifts:

• Two Hands Clean And Jerk
• Two Hands Press (later known as the Clean and Press)

This was the most lifts that would ever be seen in Olympic Weightlifting, and by 1928, it was agreed that all of the 'one hand' lifts would be expunged.

This left three lifts that were the standard for nearly half a century, and the triathlon format would later be adopted for powerlifting as well.

What Happened To The Clean And Press In Olympic Weightlifting?

The infamous lost lift in weightlifting, the clean and press, which combined the lifting motion of a clean and jerk with an overhead push, was a standard part of weightlifting for decades, but problems emerged when the Olympics returned following the Second World War.

Unlike the clean and jerk and snatch, which had very clear rules about correct and incorrect form which could be arbitrated by competition judges relatively universally, the clean and press had certain aspects which left the rules to the interpretation of the judges.

Specifically, there were issues with determining if the knees had been bent during a rapid hip thrust during the press phase and also with “layback” during the press phase.

The rules strictly banned knees being bent, but a very quick thrust of the hips was not against the rules and could involve bending the knees so quickly that certain judges could not determine beyond a reasonable doubt that the rules had been broken.

Much more controversially, however, was the layback. The rule of a military-style press is that the body should be upright and fairly rigid, but the rules allowed for “non-exaggerated” levels of layback to avoid injury.

This had the consequence of allowing the hips, legs and torso to pick up much of the slack and allow for much heavier lifts than a lifter could otherwise manage.

The Cold War Clean And Press Controversy

This came to a head in 1956, when United States Weightlifting Team coach Bob Hoffman accused the judges of being biased towards the Soviet Union, arguing that American presses interpreted as legal in the past had been disqualified, whilst Soviet lifts that he believed broke the rules were allowed.

Ultimately, the issue was not about bias but about different interpretations of the same vague ruleset. To get around this, the IWF simply got rid of the clean and press entirely, resulting in the biathlon as we know it ever since.