From: horwath@rtsg.mot.com (George Horwath)
Subject: Guide to weightlifting at the Olympics
Organization: Motorola Inc., Cellular Infrastructure Group
Distribution: usa
Date: Fri, 24 Jul 1992 12:17:05 GMT

After asking around, I've discovered that many people don't know
much about Olympic lifting (I didn't either, *that's* why I was
asking:). In the last few weeks, I've done some reading on the
subject. It didn't make me an expert, but if there are any experts
out there, I know you won't hesitate to correct me. :)

Of the three sports related to weight training, Olympic lifting
(a.k.a. "weightlifting"), Powerlifting and Bodybuilding, only
weight lifting is featured at the Olympics. This sport consists
of two lifts: the snatch and the clean & jerk. In both lifts,
the bar starts on the ground. With the snatch, the lifter
gets the bar at arms length overhead in one swoop while going
down into a squatting position. With the clean & jerk, the bar
is first brought to the shoulders (clean) and then brought to
arms length overhead (jerk).

Historically, weightlifting has been featured at the earliest, "modern"
Olympics although it wasn't always present at the games throughout
the 20th century. The types of lifts have also changed. From the 1950's,
three lifts were featured - snatch, clean & jerk, and the Olympic press.
The press was dropped in the 1970's (?) due to poor standards.

Olympic lifting requires not only strength, but also skill, coordination,
speed, and flexibility. The sport requires mastering technique. While
the movements in powerlifting and bodybuilding can be learned quickly,
the olympic lifts can take a long time to master and require practice
to maintain the athlete's skill level.

One study determined that Olympic lifters are second only to gymnasts
in flexibility. Stretching is a very important part of their routine.
Although most people think of weightlifters as being slow and stodgy,
this ain't the case! Quoting Dr. Randall Strossen, "Weightlifters are
among the very fastest of all athletes (some would argue that they
are *the* fastest). Until you see a world class lifter hoist hundreds
of pounds to arm's length overhead faster than you can follow the bar
with your eye, it will be hard to fully appreciate the level of speed
we are talking about."

These athletes also have a very good strength to body weight ratio. As
an example, there is Naim Suleymanoglu representing Turkey, 132 lbs.
weight class, who has snatched 303.1 lbs. and clean & jerked 380.3 lbs.
We ain't talkin' strong, fat midgets here, either! :)

The following is your very own TV program for Olympic weightlifting,
gleaned from the pages of TV Guide. All events will be on the regular
NBC channel - not on pay-per-view. Only a range of time is included
for coverage during which weightlifting, with other sports, will be
featured. Set your VCR.

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Times are Eastern, Pacific Zones. Central, Mountain one hour earlier

Date        Weight Class            Time
-------------------------------------------------------
Sun 7/26    Flyweight               Noon - 6PM
Mon 7/27    Bantam weight           12:35 - 2:05AM
Tue 7/28    Feather weight          12:35 - 2.05AM
Wed 7/29    Light weight            No coverage
Thu 7/30    Middleweight            No coverage
Fri 7/31    Light Heavyweight       No coverage
Sat 8/1     Middle Heavyweight      Noon - 6PM
Sun 8/2     First Heavyweight       12:35 - 2:05AM
Mon 8/3     Second Heavyweight      12:35 - 2:05AM
Tue 8/4     Super Heavyweight       7:30PM - Midnight
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