Tokyo Sport Preview: Weightlifting

Five athletes have been selected to represent Australia in weightlifting at the Tokyo Games, making it our largest weightlifting team since Sydney 2000

Overview

All five Australian athletes will be making their Olympic debuts across five different weight categories. The Australian team will be headlined by national record holder Erika Yamasaki (59kg), she will be joined in Tokyo by Kiana Elliott (64kg), Charisma Amoe-Tarrant (+87kg), Brandon Wakeling (73kg) and Matthew Lydement (109kg).

The Weightlifting competition will run from 24 to 28 July and 31 July to 4 August at the Tokyo International Forum.

Weightlifting Team

Ones To Watch

Erika Yamasaki will certainly be one to watch in Tokyo when she competes in the women’s 59kg category. At just 18-year-old Erika made her mark in the weightlifting world after claiming bronze at the 2006 Commonwealth Games. She went on to win gold at the 2015 and 2019 Pacific Games, and recently became the first women to clean and jerk double her bodyweight.

At the 2018 Commonwealth Games, while representing her birth country Nauru, Charisma Amoe-Tarrant claimed the silver medal in the women’s 90kg category. Following a bronze medal finish at the 2019 Pacific Games the 22-year-old is now set to make her Olympic debut representing Australia in the +87kg category.

Just six years after starting weightlifting, Brandon Wakeling will make his Olympic debut in Tokyo. After realising his dream of competing on home soil at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, Wakeling has had his sights set on a prosperous Tokyo campaign where he will compete in the 73kg category. Recent achievements include claiming gold at the 2019 Pacific Games and finishing 29th at the 2019 World Championships.

The Format

In weightlifting, athletes attempt to lift more than any of their competitors across two lifting techniques, the ‘snatch’ and the ‘clean and jerk’.

In the snatch, athletes lift the weight directly from the ground to above their heads in one swift movement. While the clean and jerk has two stages, where the athletes first lift the weight to their chest before pressing it above their heads.

Each athlete is allowed three attempts at each lift, starting with the snatch. However, if an athlete does not make a valid lift in any of their three snatch attempts, they are eliminated and unable to proceed to the clean and jerk. To be deemed a successful lift, the weight must be held above the athlete’s head for at least 2 seconds or until the signal.

The highest weight successfully lifted across the two techniques is combined to determine their overall result (total weight). The athlete with the highest combined weight from the two lifts (snatch and clean & jerk) is crowned the winner.

The Facts

Competition Details

The Weightlifting competition will run from 24 to 28 July and 31 July to 4 August
The Weightlifting competition will be held at the Tokyo International Forum.

Did You Know?

Brandon Wakeling is set to become just the second Indigenous Australian weightlifter to compete at an Olympic Games.
Throughout Olympic history, the People's Republic of China and the former Soviet Union countries have been most successful in weightlifting
Australia won its first weightlifting medal at the Helsinki 1952 Games, with Vern Barberis winning a bronze medal in the lightweight category.

#HaveAGo at Weightlifting

Weightlifting

IS WEIGHTLIFTING
SAFE?

With correct coaching, proper equipment, and realistic expectations, weightlifting training is safe and beneficial for most people. Unfortunately there are still some myths which cause concern to those who haven’t experienced weightlifting training first-hand.

Many years ago it was recommended that children and adolescents should avoid weightlifting, because it was thought to expose them to a greater risk of musculoskeletal injuries. But a retrospective review of the effects of weightlifting on preadolescents and adolescents found that weightlifting posed no extraordinary risk to healthy growth and in fact contributed to greater bone density and stronger joints.

A properly designed and supervised weightlifting training program can provide a safe and effective way to obtain the following benefits:

Improved muscle tone
Improved joint flexibility
Better motor skills
Increased strength, power & speed
Improved body composition
Better cardio respiratory function
Improved overall sports performance
Greater confidence and self esteem

WHAT AGE CAN
I START

Children at any age can train and compete in local Club competitions and some State competitions. Young children don’t really start developing strong muscles before they reach puberty, so it’s very important to have realistic expectations of what can be achieved at a young age and to focus on skill development and having fun.

It’s very important for participants of all ages to follow the guidance of an accredited Weightlifting Coach.
Physical development is related to age, body type, current levels of physical activity and various phases of growth.

To perform the complex movements involved in weightlifting, novices must first learn the basic techniques. As they master the introductory exercises using relatively light weights, they can progressively increase those weights and move on to more advanced training. A qualified coach can monitor the rate of each individual’s progress and greatly assist in the development of advanced skills and the attainment of greater results.

Weightlifters train to develop and perfect their technical skills while at the same time, they are conditioning their bodies to be strong and powerful. This process of learning weightlifting technique, coupled with progressive physical conditioning, provides a balanced approach to overall physical development.

IS WEIGHTLIFTING
SAFE FOR GIRLS

Due to the hormonal differences between men and women, females can develop strength through resistance training, without an excessive increase in muscle size or bulk (less than 5mm). Most women participating in Olympic Weightlifting actually experience a loss of excess body fat and therefore experience a reduction in their overall body size.

There are no biological differences that inhibit women and girl’s capacity to participate in Weightlifting and weight training. In fact due to a female’s tendency to be more flexible than their male counterparts, women are generally able to perform the Weightlifting movements more effectively. Further, a woman’s body can manage a resistance training program just as well as a man’s can.

Weightlifting will not make women infertile. A woman’s reproductive organs are internal and therefore protected from the risk of injury through Weightlifting participation. Physically active women normally have easier pregnancies and deliver healthier babies.

Weightlifting will not make female participants overly aggressive or unfeminine. All sports develop competitive qualities in participants (male or female), however these characteristics, combined with a women’s natural femininity, are exhibited as a heightened level of self-confidence.