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ENGLISH FOR THE GAMES

WeightliftingWhen athletes come together from around the world to compete in the Olympic and Paralympic Games, they are fulfilling their dreams and competing at the highest level. Billions of people across the globe join in; watching, listening to and reading about the greatest global celebration of sport. To celebrate the London 2012 Games, the British Council is making a wide range of classroom resources available for learners of English worldwide.

People have been measuring their strength against each other since ancient times, and there is no better way of doing that than weightlifting. It is one of the least complicated Olympic sports, but also one of the most impressive. Have you ever done any weightlifting? How much could you lift?

Weightlifting gloves

Weightlifting knee support

Weightlifting belt

Squat

Snatch 1Snatch 2 Snatch 3

Clean and jerk 1 to 5

Split

1. Vocabulary

a. Write the correct words in the spaces provided.

a. Snatch 1 b. Weightlifting belt c. Weightlifting knee

support

d. Snatch 2 e. Squat f. Split

g. Snatch 3 h. Weightlifting gloves i. Clean and jerk 1-5

4 3

2

1

5

6 7

8

9

1. A lift in one movement.

2. A lift in two movements.

3. A steel bar with a weight at each end of the bar.

4. The lifter bends his knees with one leg in front of the other.

5. The lifter bends his knees with his feet parallel.

6. An incorrect lift which does not count in the competition.

Weightlifting is just that - athletes have to lift a heavy weight. The weights are fixed onto a

steel bar - a barbell. The person who lifts the heaviest weight wins.

Athletes have to lift the weights in two different ways.

The first lift is the ‘snatch’ - athletes lift the barbell above their head in just one

movement.

The second lift is the ‘clean and jerk’ - athletes lift the barbell above their head in

two movements.

Athletes can try each lift three times.

With each lift, more weight is added to the barbell. The highest two weights are counted. If

athletes can’t lift the weight or lift it incorrectly, it’s a ‘no lift’ and it doesn’t count.

There are individual and team events in weightlifting, for men and women. There are

different categories, depending on body weight.

The lightest category for men is the flyweight (maximum body weight 52kg).

The heaviest for men is super heavyweight (maximum body weight 110 kg).

Athletes can only compete in one weight category.

There are winners for the snatch and the clean and jerk. The weights of these two lifts are

added up to decide the overall winner. If two competitors lift the same weight, the one

with the lightest body weight wins.

2. The rules of Weightlifting

a. Match the words in the table with their definitions below.

a. no lift b. a split c. barbell

d. snatch e. squat f. clean and jerk

3. Questions & Answers

What’s the heaviest weight ever lifted?

The Olympic record for the clean and jerk is 263 kg.That’s 578.6 lb. It’s about the same

weight as three men - or 526 cups of coffee.

Who lifted that?

An Iranian man called Hossein Rezazadeh, in 2004.

And what about women weight lifters?

Well, women’s weightlifting was only introduced in the 2000 Games in Sydney. The

record is held by the Korean Jang Mi-Ran. She lifted 186 kg in Beijing in 2008.

So she could lift you and me with one hand! Why is she so strong?

Because she’s heavy. She’s in the heaviest women’s weight category - 75kg+. You see,

the heavier you are, the more weight you can lift. That’s why they created weight

categories in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.

So if you’re built like a bus, you can probably lift one?

Maybe not a bus, but a cow, possibly. One of the greatest ancient Olympic wrestlers

carried a four year-old cow the length of the stadium. It must have weighed about 400

kg.

Do people still lift cows?

No, they lift barbells. These were invented by Dr George Barker Windship in 1865. He

was an American doctor and strongman. He thought lifting heavy weights was good for

you. He lifted a lot. Then he died very suddenly at the age of 42. People didn’t lift heavy

weights for a long time after that.

So when was weightlifting included in the Olympics?

There was weightlifting in the first modern Olympics in 1896. There were two events -

the one hand lift and the two hand lift. There have been lots of changes since then and

lots of disagreements about lifts - but in the 1980 Games the classic snatch and clean

and jerk lifts were chosen and they’re the ones lifters use today.

Here is a joke: what’s big and heavy and goes up and down?

I know! A barbell in a lift!

a. Match the beginning and the ending of these sentences.

1. 1. Dr George Barker Windship

a. a. lifted the weight of approximately

three men.

2. Jang Mi-Ran b. in 1980.

3. Hossein Rezazadeh c. did not die an old man.

4. Weight categories were created d. in 2000.

5. The first modern Olympics were e. is the strongest woman in the world.

6. The snatch and clean and jerk lifts were

chosen

f. in 1896.

b. Put the correct word into the sentence.

1. What’s the heaviest weight __________?

2. Jang Mi-Ran __________ 186.0 kg in Beijing.

3. She __________ you and me with one hand.

4. The heavier you are, the more weight you __________.

5. Do people __________ cows?

6. Dr Windship thought __________ heavy weights was good for you.

7. People __________ heavy weights for a long time after that.

a. ever lifted b. lifted c. could lift d. can lift

e. still lift f. lifting g. didn’t lift

4. Solution

Exercise 1a

1. f; 2. i; 3. a; 4. d; 5. g; 6. e;7. b; 8. c; 9. h;

Exercise 2a

1. d; 2. f; 3. c; 4. b; 5. e; 6.a

Exercise 3a

1.c, 2.e, 3.a, 4.d, 5.f, 6.b

Exercise 3b

1.a, 2.b, 3.c, 4.d, 5.e, 6.f, 7.g