Weightlifting is a sport of patience and progress. Behind every successful lift are many that came before it – attempts that fell short, were reset and tried again. Improvement comes gradually, through consistent effort over months and years. More than almost anything else, the sport rewards persistence.
That makes it well suited to the spirit of Olympic Day, whose theme this year is Let’s Move, carrying the message You Can Do This. The message is an encouragement to begin and to keep going. Feeling uncertain at the start is normal, and it need not stand in the way of taking the first step.
Weightlifting is also one of the most accessible sports to begin. Every lifter, from first-time participant to Olympic champion, starts in the same way: with a weight and the willingness to learn the movement. The sport requires no special background and places no barrier on who can take part, which is part of what gives it such broad global reach.
Widening that reach is central to the work of the IWF. Its Development Programme supports national federations through coaching, equipment and technical expertise. The IWF also has a Refugee Team, first launched in 2023, giving displaced athletes the opportunity to compete internationally.
Around the world, people take up weightlifting for many different reasons – for competition, for general fitness and health, or simply for the satisfaction of growing stronger over time. Much of the sport’s appeal lies in how much it can offer to anyone willing to try it, whatever their goal.
As IWF President Mohammed Jalood notes: “Weightlifting changes lives. It teaches patience, rewards persistence, and shows people they are capable of more than they imagined. That lesson belongs to everyone who picks up a weight – not only our Olympians, but every person training in a gym anywhere in the world.”
The sport’s highest stage remains ahead. Weightlifting will feature at the Olympic Games Los Angeles 2028, where the world’s leading lifters will compete at the pinnacle of the sport.
Yet the foundations of that achievement are laid far from the Olympic arena – in training halls and community gyms, through the daily commitment of athletes, coaches and volunteers. On Olympic Day, the weightlifting community recognises all of them.
IWF Communications
