[[Image:Clean%26jerk.jpg|thumb|220px|An athlete pauses in between the two phases of the clean and jerk event.]]
'''Weightlifting''' has been an [[Olympic]] [[sport]] since the first modern games in [[Athens]] in 1896<ref>http://www.olympic.org/uk/sports/programme/index_uk.asp?SportCode=WL</ref>. Athletes compete to see who can lift the heaviest weights (in the form of a metal bar with heavy weights on each end). Both men and women compete, and there are several weight divisions for each gender.