X-Nico

3 unusual facts about Olympic weightlifting


Olympic weightlifting

There are eight male divisions and seven female divisions since 1998.

As early as 1987, there were official world championships awarded to women weightlifters such as Karyn Marshall and Judy Glenney.

Valeriy Borchin

After trying out weightlifting and long-distance running in his youth, he began practising racewalking at the age of seventeen after a knee injury.


Hans Bettembourg

Hansjörg "Hans" Bettembourg (born 28 March 1944 in Neuruppin) is a Swedish former weightlifter who competed in the 1972 Summer Olympics.

Héctor Ballesteros

Héctor Fabio Ballesteros Vélez (born October 18, 1981 in Cali, Valle del Cauca) is a retired male weightlifter from Colombia.

Kiribati at the 2008 Summer Olympics

David Katoatau represented Kiribati in the men's 85 kg class of the weightlifting competition.

Kuo Yi-hang

Kuo Yi-Hang (born June 2, 1975) is a female weightlifter who competed for Chinese Taipei in the 2000 Summer Olympics and won a bronze medal in heavyweight category.

Weightlifting at the 1952 Summer Olympics

The weightlifting competition at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki consisted of seven weight classes, all for men only.

Yaowapa Boorapolchai

She defeated Ivett Gonda of Canada and Gladys Alicia Mora Romero of Colombia in the repechage tournament to win the bronze and become the first Thai Olympic medalist outside of boxing and weightlifting.


see also

Robert H. Meltzer

Meltzer learned weightlifting from both Olympian gold and silver-medal holder and Mr. World and Mr. Universe title-holder Tommy Kono and Dr. Peter T. George, captain of the 1952 (Helsinki) and 1956 (Melbourne) U.S. Olympic Weightlifting teams.

Sibel Güler

On August 30, 2008, she married to Taner Sağır, a world and Olympic weightlifting champion and also an immigrant from Bulgaria.