As athletes worldwide compete on the grandest stage, a global spotlight has converged on Paris, France, as the home of the 2024 Summer Olympics. Amidst this worldwide celebration, the University of Delaware is showcasing expertise and resources in human performance and sports sciences, innovative research and interdisciplinary collaboration. 

Weightlifting is one of the oldest Olympic sports, but women didn’t begin competing on the Olympic level until 2000 at the Summer Games in Sydney, Australia.

When it comes to Olympic weightlifting, the athlete’s weight is key to the competition. 

“There are different body weight classes for men and women,” explained Mike Eckrich, a physical therapist in the University of Delaware’s Physical Therapy Clinic. “It makes sense for athletes to have as much muscle and as little body fat as possible in their weight class so that they perform at the top of their weight class.”

Two key maneuvers will be on display during the Summer Games: the snatch and the clean and jerk. 

“Each athlete gets three chances to do each lift, starting with the snatch,” Eckrich said. “They pick their weight, do the lift, and if the judges consider it a good lift, they move on. They can keep the same weight or add weight with each lift.”

All athletes will perform both the snatch and the clean and jerk at the Olympics. The snatch is the more technically difficult maneuver because it requires greater mobility and precision. But the clean and jerk is where you’ll see the Olympians lift the heaviest weight.

“The clean and jerk is a combination of speed, power and technique, so it’s a nice balance, which you don’t see in other strength-based sports,” Eckrich said. “In Olympic weightlifting, it’s a requisite that you lift the weight really well and perform the technique almost perfectly.” 

But selecting who gets the gold is simple. 

“The athlete who lifts the most weight wins,” said Eckrich, a CrossFit coach. “But if you don’t have good technique or perform to standard, your lift won’t count.” 

The most common injuries in Olympic weightlifters are knee tendinitis or tendinopathy in the patellar tendon from squatting heavy weights. Medial wrist injuries due to stress, lower back strains and muscle overuse injuries are common. 

“The virtue of lifting heavy weights all the time at relatively high intensities leads to overuse injuries,” Eckrich said. “When athletes are peaking as they get closer to competition, they tend to pay less attention to how their body is feeling and push themselves, and that’s where those overuse injuries come into play.” 

Olympic weightlifting competitions kick off on Aug. 7.