ACOG - Weightlifting - IBM

Thumbnail Detailed Information
  • Spectator's Guide to Olympic Weightlifting
  • Who to Watch in Olympic Weightlifting
  • History of Olympic Weightlifting
  • Olympic Medals in Weightlifting
  • Competition Dates
    20 to 30 Jul 1996 (Day off on 25 Jul)

    Venue
    Georgia World Congress Center, Hall E
    Capacity: 5,000

    Events/Disciplines
    10 Events
    Weight Classes
    54kg83kg
    59kg91kg
    64kg99kg
    70kg108kg
    76kg+108kg

    Number of Athletes
    240 men

    Changes Since Barcelona
    Changed: Weight classes from 52kg, 56kg, 60kg, 67.5kg, 75kg, 82.5kg, 90kg, 100kg, 110kg and +110kg

    Qualifications
    Top 34 nations from the 1995 World Championships qualified three to 10 athletes each, depending on each country’s final ranking.

    Competition Format
    Each lifter competes in both the snatch and the clean and jerk and the weights are added to determine placing. One bodyweight category will be contested each day.

    International Federation
    IWF — International Weightlifting Federation
    Hold u.1
    P.F. 614
    1374 Budapest, Hungary
    Tel: (36-1) 131-8153 or 153-0530
    Fax: (36-1) 153-0199

    Olympic Debut
    1896

    Olympic History
    Since becoming an Olympic sport in 1896, the number of events has been reduced from five to two — snatch and clean and jerk — but the number of weight classes has increased. Naim SÜLEYMANOGLU, a featherweight, is considered one of the greatest lifters, having set his first world record at age 14. He won the gold medal at the 1988 Games in Seoul, lifting more than the winner of the next weight class. SÜLEYMANOGLU won the gold medal again in 1992.



    Olympic Factoid
    More tickets were sold to the competitions of the 1996 Games than to any other Olympic Games or sports event in history. The 8.6 million ticket sales figures topped sales to the Los Angeles and Barcelona Games combined.