THE 15 EVENTS
Men: 56kg, 62kg, 69kg, 77kg, 85kg, 94kg, 105kg, Over 105kg
Women: 48kg, 53kg, 58kg, 63kg, 69kg, 75kg, Over 75kg
THE FORMAT
All competitors complete a snatch lift then the clean and jerk (three attempts per movement), he/she who averages the highest total is the winner.
MILESTONES
1896
Weightlifting features at the first modern Olympics in Athens - only two events feature, the one-hand and two-hand lift, in one division - the open category.
1928
The Games begin to feature the three main events: the press, snatch and clean and jerk.
1972
The first two Olympic weightlifting doping cases are registered at the Munich Games.
1976
At the Montreal Games, seven weightlifters (three medalists including two champions) are disqualified for using banned products.
1984
Five cases of doping are registered at the Los Angeles Games.
1988
Another five cases of doping are registered at the Seoul Games, two of which involved two Bulgarian gold medal-winners. The Bulgarian weightlifting team pulls out of the Games.
1992
In an effort to build new foundations, the IWF creates new weight categories which are put into place for the Games in Barcelona.
1998
The IWF cancels all world records in an effort to start 'clean' and redefines all categories.
2000
The men's categories are reduced from 10 to 8 and the women make their debut in the Games with 7 categories.
STARS
Vassili Alexeiev (USSR)
The double Olympic champion in the top weight category at the 1972 and 1976 Games weighed 160 kg and established 80 world records as well as winning 22 world titles.
Naim Suleymanoglu (Bulgaria/Turkey)
He stands just 1m49 tall and is considered as the greatest weightlifter of all time. He won three Olympic crowns in 1988 and 1992 (in the 60kg), then in 1996 (in the 64 kg). He won 22 world titles and set 46 world records.
Pyrros Dimas (Greece)
He won three Olympic titles in the 82.5, 83 and 85kg categories in 1992, 1996 and 2000 respectively and is also a triple world champion.