IWF120y/27 – 1969: First medals for individual movements

Despite the change in the number of movements, there was a stable rule at the IWF events and Olympic Games: medals were only given based on the Total result of the lifters (the cumulative weight of the movements performed). In Mexico City, in 1968, a proposal to award separate medals for the Press (before its abolition in 1973), Snatch, and Clean & Jerk results (considered individually) was approved by the Congress. Delegates decided that the new rules would be enforced at the subsequent edition of the World Championships, taking place in Warsaw (POL), in 1969. The Congress (which approved the creation of two additional bodyweight categories) also urged the IWF leadership to take these matters to the IOC, for possible inclusion in the Games programme. In the end, only the change of categories was validated by the Olympic instance – otherwise, and concerning the awards, this norm is still valid today, whereby lifters at the Games are only given medals based on their Total result. At the IWF level, the 1969 showcase (only contested by men at the time) distributed therefore 108 medals (the Soviet Union led operations, followed by the United States and Poland), instead of 27 (if only Total had been considered), and this rule was never abandoned. At the latest IWF showcase (photo), the 2024 World Championships in Manama (BRN), men and women competed in 10 categories each, for a total of 180 medals, evenly allocated for the Snatch, C&J, and Total results.