Olympic weightlifting: Why Team USA is the strongest it has ever been and how to watch

The strongest sport at the Olympics is set to take stage on Wednesday, Aug. 7, in Paris where five Americans eye the podium.

Olympic weightlifting, simply known to athletes as weightlifting, is not to be confused with weight lifting, the act of lifting weights; or powerlifting, a completely different strength sport. Weightlifters have three attempts to complete each of the two Olympic lifts: the snatch and the clean & jerk. The athlete with the highest combined total wins.

Weightlifting was first competed at the 1896 Olympics in Athens, making it one of the oldest sports at the Games, but it didn't become a regular event in the competition until 1920 in Antwerp, Belgium.

Soviet athletes, Europeans and Chinese athletes typically dominate the men's competition. After women were allowed to compete in 2000, Team China often ends on top of the podium.

Olympic Weightlifting Schedule

The United States has been nurturing its lifters over recent years, resulting in Katherine Vibert bringing home the silver in the women's 76kg category in Tokyo 2020 and Sarah Robles taking her second bronze in the +87kg. This time around, the sport continues to evolve and Team USA has a chance at more medals because its athletes are stronger than ever.

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In Paris 2024, each country is only able to send three men and three women, one per weight class. Vibert didn't qualify because the athletes had to rank top six, out of the entire world, following multiple Olympics qualifiers. Robles said she wasn't going to compete in the qualifiers.

Meet Team USA weightlifters

On the men's side, 20-year-old Hampton Morris is ranked No. 2 in the 61kg weight class, making him a medal favorite at his first Olympic Games. He made history earlier this year at the World Cup in Phuket, Thailand, becoming the first American male to break a weightlifting world record since 1969, according to USA Weightlifting.

No other male USA athletes made the top six rankings in other weight classes, but Wes Kitt earned a spot to compete in the 102kg as a continental representative.

On the women's side, Jourdan Delacruz (49kg) looks to redeem her performance in Tokyo where she didn't receive a total because she missed all three of her clean & jerk attempts.

Another athlete you must keep an eye on is Olivia Reeves. The 21-year-old athlete has been on the rise and she appears unstoppable, holding 15 American records in youth, junior and senior categories. She's the 2023 World Cup gold medalist in the 71kg and fans are looking for her to soon break the world record in both the snatch (121kg) and clean & jerk (154kg). Reeves' personal competition best is currently 120kg for the snatch and 151kg for the clean & jerk.

She has added 26kg to her total since the first Olympic qualifier, according to USA Weightlifting, who knows what she will accomplish at her first Olympic Games.

Team USA's last medal contender is Mary Theisen-Lappen in the +81kg category. She's currently ranked No. 5 in the world and grabbed silver at the 2023 World Championships. In last month's training session, Theisen-Lappen smashed the world record in the jerk at 188kg, USAW said.

Olympic weightlifting movements and rules

The snatch and clean & jerk are powerful movements where athletes move massive amounts of weights on the barbell, oftentimes over twice their body weight, to an overhead position in mere seconds.

These movements appear simple, but they are incredibly technical and it can take several years to master how to move efficiently. The competition also appears straightforward. Athletes lift the barbell one at a time and the weight on the bar can only increase, never decrease, but coaches behind the scenes are playing chess as they plan their athlete's rest time and next attempts.

Snatch

The snatch is the more technical of the two movements. Lifters must move the barbell from the floor to above their head in one fluid movement. They can't re-bend and extend their elbows once the weight is overhead, a controversial rule that many fans argue robs athletes of good lifts.

Clean & Jerk

As the name suggests, the clean & jerk are two separate movements counted as one combined lift. The clean portion of the lift involves the athlete "cleaning" the barbell up to the front rack position, or supported on top of their collarbone and shoulders.

The jerk includes the athlete elevating the weight by jumping and quickly pressing the barbell overhead. The same elbows rule applies to the jerk.

Three judges, two side judges and one in the front, signal a white light for a good lift and a red light for no lift. Athletes need at least two white lights for the lift to count.