It debuted at the 1896 Summer Olympics, in Athens, Greece, and was also an event at the 1904 Games.

In the early Games, all lifters competed in the same events, regardless of their individual body weights.

1896 1904 When the sport returned to the Olympic Games in 1920, the competition was structured as a set of weight classes.

Women's weightlifting made its Olympic debut at the 2000 Games in Sydney,[1] with seven weight classes.

Sources:[2] As of the 2024 Summer Olympics and Court of Arbitration for Sport decision of March 2022 to disqualify a gold medalist in the weightlifting men's 77kg event at the 2016 Summer Olympics (medals in this event have not yet been reallocated as of August 2024).