Weightlifting at the 1976 Summer Olympics

The big change to the Olympic weightlifting competition was that there were now only two lifts, the snatch and clean & jerk, as the military press had been eliminated. This change was made internationally after the 1972 Olympics as the press was not contested at the 1973-75 World Championships. There have always been two causes listed as the reason for eliminating the press. One is that the press was rarely done strictly, as the lifters often bent themselves backwards at the waist, or bent their knees, to help them hoist the weight. This made it difficult to judge properly. Although this was not supposed to be legal, the question was how much backward lean or knee flex the judges would allow. Secondly, because of the backwards lean, the sports’ administrators were worried about deleterious effects on the lifters’ backs. For whatever reason, the military press has never since been held in major international weightlifting.

The weightlifting was held indoors at the Aréna Saint-Michel, a small 2,000 seat arena that had been built in 1968, but which was enlarged slightly to allow seating for 2,700 spectators at the 1976 Olympics. The weight classes were the same as in 1972, with nine classes.

The Soviet Union dominated the weightlifting in 1976, winning seven of the nine classes, and eight medals in all. They were trailed by Bulgaria, which won one gold medal, but six medals. Nine different nations won medals.