IWF120y/30 – 2016: Do it first, no matter your body weight!

Despite the tiny minimal differences (initially 0.5kg, nowadays 1kg) when considering a weightlifting result (thus allowing for a potential range of different outcomes), it happens on many occasions that a tie is registered, meaning that two different athletes have lifted the exact same number of kilos. Traditionally, this problem was solved in the past with a very straightforward method: if tied, the lightest lifter (the one whose body weight was inferior) would win. This method was based on simple logic: for the same weight on the bar, the heaviest athlete has some advantage, so the lightest one should be favoured. In 2016, the IWF decided to change this rule and adopt a new procedure: from 2017 onwards, in case of a tie, the athlete who has first lifted or achieved a cumulative result wins (in reality, this rule already existed since the mid-1980s, but only as a second element to untie a result, if lifters with the same result had also the exact same body weight). The idea is to enforce the sacred principle in our Sport: who lifts more, triumphs! Additional arguments in favour of this idea include an improvement of ‘active’ strategies during the competition (and not the simple comparison of the body weights), the enforcement of the principle that athletes must win on the platform (and not in the sauna), and a better understanding of the rules by neophytes in weightlifting (spectators, TV viewers, or media representatives). In practical terms, this rule obliges the lifter to look for the next kilo in order to overcome his/her most direct opponent. It has one more non-negligible advantage: if a World Record is set, and then matched, the first lifter establishing it will necessarily and logically win the gold.