How the sport works
An athlete must complete two different types of lifts. Round one is the snatch, where he must lift the weight above his head in one fluid movement. The second round is the clean and jerk, where he must lift the weight first to his collarbone and then over his head. A lift is awarded only when at least two of the three judges are satisfied his elbows are locked out and he is standing still. Lifters get three attempts in the snatch and the clean and jerk. The athlete with the highest combined weight lifted wins. In case of a tie, the lifter with the lowest body weight wins.
Fourteen lifters started the first round but, as four of them failed to complete a snatch, there were only ten in round two.
There were big groups of fans from countries like Indonesia, China, and eastern Europe. At first, they all just cheered for their own athletes, but as the evening progressed, the crowd warmed up to the competitors as we witnessed their determined struggles to successfully complete their lifts. By the end of the night, we were on our feet, cheering for each lifter, regardless of his country. One of the lifters was from North Korea, so I was happy to cheer for North Korea for the first time in my life.
Early on, it was clear the Chinese lifter would win the gold. He completed his lifts, most of which were heavier than the other athletes’ lifts, with such ease that there was no way anyone could catch him. Below, he celebrates his gold medal lift.
Gold may have been already claimed but the battle for silver was tight. It came down to a Romanian and an Indonesian. The Romanian had completed a heavier snatch in the first round, so the Indonesian had to do a heavier clean and jerk if he was to catch him. The audience loved the drama. On the Indonesian’s last clean and jerk of the night, he lifted the 188 kilos up to his chest, though it was a struggle. When he lifted the weight above his head, he took a few steps to steady his balance. And then he took a few more steps. And a few more. Everyone in the crowd was on their feet, yelling and screaming for him as he walked all over the platform with the weight still over his head, desperately trying to find his balance. When he did finally stand still and complete the lift, he was ecstatic and the crowd went crazy!
I’d seen weightlifting on tv in the past and figured it might be fun to watch them lift double my body weight over their head live in person. Having been to just one session of Olympic weightlifting, I am now hooked!
Medal results
Gold: Qingfeng Lin, China
Silver: Triyatno Triyatno, Indonesia
Bronze: Razvan Martin, Romania