There are four categories of referee for the United States Weightlifting and International Weightlifting Federations: Local, National, Category 2, and Category 1. I recently graduated from Local to National, and this change in level has only deepened my love of Olympic weightlifting. The latest technical manual for referees is upwards of ninety pages. I have found every one of these rules fascinating and have been witness to technical official meetings where heated discussions take place over the interpretation of said regulations. Besides haggling over rules, the weightlifting community has also argued about what is considered a good lift with regards to technique. Many believe the press out rule enforced today is too strict. With the introduction of video replay challenge cards, the interpretation of these technique rules might get even more complicated.

With some research, it has become apparent that the Olympic sport of weightlifting has been fraught with debate and sweeping changes since its inception in the 1896 Summer Olympic Games. Ironically, weightlifting in those first modern Olympic Games was very haphazard in terms of regulation. There were no weight classes and there was a debate in the end over whether a tie should be broken by lifting more weight or judging the technique of the lifters, something that probably should have been thought out beforehand. A summary of the chaos of the time can be found on this internet archive. It took until the 1920 Olympic Games for the sport of weightlifting to be more organized. Weight classes were introduced, and the lifts were narrowed down from freeform circus tricks to snatch, clean, and presses, according to this article by Conor Heffernan. There was a subsequent shuffling and changing of which lifts were contested at the Olympics until the 1928 Games in Amsterdam. At this time, the snatch, clean and jerk, and the clean and press took the stage replacing any one-handed lifts. The press, however, was still a bone of contention between officials and competitors. John D. Fair describes how athletes began using a Russian technique of extending the back into a “lay back” style during what was supposed to be a strict “military” press. With a “lay back” style press came difficulties in judging whether the lifter used their knees dynamically or not. Cold War politics joined the fracas and led to juries overturning official’s judgements unfairly. The solution to this problem led to the elimination of the clean and press altogether, and now we are left with just the snatch and clean and jerk in competition.

The history of weightlifting is interesting in that I feel like the nit-picking and arguing over technique rules has not been alleviated but exacerbated. One of the heated discussions I was privy to as a National Referee was with reference to when the lift is complete. The rule reads as follows: “The lifted weight must be maintained in the final motionless position, with both arms and legs fully extended and feet on the same line and parallel to the plane of the trunk and the barbell. The athlete waits for the Referees’ signal to replace the barbell on the competition platform.” The officials in the room disagreed on when the “down signal” should be given to the athlete if the feet are not on the same line and parallel to the plane of the trunk and the barbell. In other words, what do we do if the lifter completes the lift, but her feet are uneven? I chuckled at how agitated some of the crew became with this discussion. Incidentally, we never came up with a solid decision. Another argument among technical officials ensued on Facebook over the photo of a lifter kneeling on the platform before he set up for the lift. There is a rule that states that only the feet may touch the platform during the lift. Some argued that kneeling, even before the start of the lift, violates this rule. Others vehemently charged that we are getting way too power hungry with our “no lift” calls. A call has been made to amend that rule to state that during the actual lift, no other body part shall touch the platform.  A more common controversy is over the “press out” rule. The lifter must snatch and jerk “cleanly” meaning that the barbell must travel to the locked-out position without being pressed into that position. This is judged by three technical officials and in high profile competitions, the decision is double checked by a three-person jury. I have been known to say (after competing personally) that if we get the barbell overhead, the lift should count. Most coaches and athletes I have talked to in the Masters (age 35 and older) competition circuit, believe that judging is too strict and too many “no lift” rulings are handed out siting a press out. Some have argued that the snatch and clean and jerk are safer if performed without a press. Dresdin Archibald argues that there is no room for sloppy lifting in competition. In order to alleviate some of the confusion over what actually constitutes a “press out,” a definition has been developed. According to the International Weightlifting Federation’s rule book, a press out is “continuing the extension of the arms after the athlete has reached the lowest point of his / her position in the squat or split for both the Snatch and the Jerk.” This has made the fault more clear and somewhat easier to judge. 

With most competitive sports comes the instant replay, and now weightlifting is no exception. Athletes are now given a challenge card which can be turned in after a judged lift and starts a video review process by the jury. I, at first, was not a fan of this new procedure. With three officials and a jury, I thought the lifts have enough eyes on them to tell if they are compliant or not. However, if we want to keep Olympic weightlifting up to the standard of other high stakes professional sports, we need to include this ability to review judges’ decisions.

The main issue seems to have always been whether or not style should count in weightlifting. The beauty of weightlifting is that performance takes significant technique practice before even adding weight to the bar. Strength, agility, coordination, and speed are all part of the snatch and clean and jerk. The Olympic lifts are taught from the beginning with unloaded technique, so there is no doubt to me that this technique should be considered when judging a competition. It is only fitting that it takes a well-defined rule book, several technical officials, video replay, and lots of heated discussions to keep this sport at the Olympic level.