The summer Olympic Games have been held just about every four years since the inaugural event in 1896 in Athens, Greece. The Games are about international cooperation, camaraderie, and sportsmanship.
They’re also an opportunity for the best weightlifters in the world to throw some really, really heavy barbells overhead. That’s why we’ve compiled this list of all current Olympic records in the sport of weightlifting so you can brush up before the 2024 Olympics in Paris, France kick off on Jul. 26.
Note that many of these categories have as-of-yet unclaimed records. Those territories are likely to have flags planted upon them come the end of Paris 2024. We’ll explain why there are gaps in the record books so you know who to watch at the Olympics this summer.
Men’s Weightlifting Olympic Records & Standards
This list encompasses only weight categories that were showcased during the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. Certain Men’s divisions, like the 55-kilogram events, have yet to be contested at the Olympics.
55 Kilograms
Per the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF), no Olympic Standards have been set for the Men’s 55-kilogram division.
61 Kilograms
- Snatch: 143, Li Fabin (CHN)
- Clean & Jerk: 172, Li Fabin (CHN)
- Total: 313, Li Fabin (CHN)
67 Kilograms
- Snatch: 151, Olympic Standard
- Clean & Jerk: 187, Chen Lijun (CHN)
- Total: 332, Chen Lijun (CHN)
73 Kilograms
- Snatch: 166, Shi Zhiyong (CHN)
- Clean & Jerk: 199, Rizki Juniansyah (INA)
- Total: 364, Shi Zhiyong (CHN)
81 Kilograms
- Snatch: 170, Lu Xiaojun (CHN)
- Clean & Jerk: 204, Lu Xiaojun (CHN)
- Total: 374, Lu Xiaojun (CHN)
89 Kilograms
- Snatch: 180, Olympic Standard
- Clean & Jerk: 224, Karlos Nasar (BUL)
- Total: 404, Karlos Nasar (BUL)
96 Kilograms
- Snatch: 183, Olympic Standard
- Clean & Jerk: 225, Meso Hassona (QAT)
- Total: 402, Meso Hassona (QAT)
102 Kilograms
- Snatch: 186, Olympic Standard
- Clean & Jerk: 226, Olympic Standard
- Total: 410, Olympic Standard
109 Kilograms
- Snatch: 195, Simon Martirosyan (ARM)
- Clean & Jerk: 237, Akbar Djuraev (UZB)
- Total: 430, Akbar Djuraev (UZB)
+109 Kilograms
- Snatch: 223, Lasha Talakhadze (GEO)
- Clean & Jerk: 265, Lasha Talakhadze (GEO)
- Total: 488, Lasha Talakhadze (GEO)
Women’s Weightlifting Olympic Records
This list encompasses only weight categories that were showcased during the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. It does not contain records or Standards from the 45-kilogram category, which has yet to be held at an Olympic Games and won’t be in Paris.
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45 Kilograms
According to the IWF, no Olympic Standards have been declared for the Women’s 45-kilogram category.
49 Kilograms
- Snatch: 94, Hou Zhihui (CHN)
- Clean & Jerk: 117, Hou Zhihui (CHN)
- Total: 210, Hou Zhihui (CHN)
55 Kilograms
- Snatch: 98, Muattar Nabieva (UZB)
- Clean & Jerk: 127, Hidilyn Diaz (PHI)
- Total: 224, Hidilyn Diaz (PHI)
59 Kilograms
- Snatch: 107, Luo Shifang (CHN)
- Clean & Jerk: 134, Luo Shifang (CHN)
- Total: 241, Luo Shifang (CHN)
64 Kilograms
- Snatch: 108, Olympic Standard
- Clean & Jerk: 134, Olympic Standard
- Total: 242, Olympic Standard
71 Kilograms
- Snatch: 117, Olivia Reeves (USA)
- Clean & Jerk: 148, Olympic Standard
- Total: 265, Olympic Standard
76 Kilograms
- Snatch: 121, Olympic Standard
- Clean & Jerk: 149, Olympic Standard
- Total: 270, Olympic Standard
81 Kilograms
- Snatch: 122, Olympic Standard
- Clean & Jerk: 150, Olympic Standard
- Total: 267, Olympic Standard
87 Kilograms
- Snatch: 130, Olympic Standard
- Clean & Jerk: 159, Olympic Standard
- Total: 289, Olympic Standard
+87 Kilograms
- Snatch: 140, Li Wenwen (CHN)
- Clean & Jerk: 180, Li Wenwen (CHN)
- Total: 320, Li Wenwen (CHN)
What Is an Olympic Standard?
As an international sport, weightlifting has long contended with bureaucratic corruption and scandals pertaining to both governance within the IWF and the conduct of various member federations. Long story short, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has penalized the sport’s presence at the Games in recent years.
One tangential effect of these entanglements was a scrubbing of the sport’s official bodyweight categories in 2018 in an attempt to wipe “tainted” records from the history books. As such, the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 were the first Games to showcase many — but not all — of the sport’s contemporary divisions.
- To officially claim an Olympic Record, an athlete must snatch or clean & jerk one kilogram above the Standard benchmark established by the IWF & IOC when the categories were originally minted.
- Certain divisions, such as the Men’s and Women’s featherweights (55- and 45-kilogram) were not held in either Tokyo or Paris, and thus no athlete has had an opportunity to claim the Standards in those events.
[Related: Why Can’t North Korea Compete in the 2024 Olympics in Weightlifting?]
In Tokyo, weightlifting held seven weight class events for men and women. For Paris, there are only five.
- Paris 2024 Men’s Events: 61KG, 73KG, 89KG, 102KG, +102KG
- Paris 2024 Women’s Events: 49KG, 59KG, 71KG, 81KG, +81KG
Editor’s Note: The “official” super-heavyweight divisions of +87 and +109 kilograms are designated as +81 and +102 in Paris, as the IOC elected to not showcase the penultimate categories of -87 and -109.
Weightlifting was recently confirmed for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, where fans may see the first expanded presence of the sport in decades.
2024 Olympics Weightlifting Schedule
Below you’ll find the full weightlifting itinerary for the 2024 Olympics. Note that while the Games commence on Jul. 26, weightlifting events don’t kick off until Aug. 7.
All times listed are in Eastern Standard Time and are subject to change.
Wednesday, August 7
- 9:00AM: Men 61KG
- 1:30PM: Women 49KG
Thursday, August 8
- 9:00AM: Women 59KG
- 1:30PM: Men 73KG
Friday, August 9
- 9:00AM: Men 89KG
- 1:30PM: Women 71KG
Saturday, August 10
- 5:30AM: Men 102KG
- 10:00AM: Women 81KG
- 2:30PM: Men +102KG
Sunday, August 11
- 5:30AM: Women +81KG
