Abstract

In Olympic-style weightlifting males outperform females and heavier weightlifters lift more weight than athletes with lighter body mass. Traditional ranking models in weightlifting are based on total weight lifted and do not permit direct comparison of individual lift performances across body mass and sex. The aim of this study was to model performance in the snatch and clean and jerk and to develop a unified ranking system for comparisons across body mass and sex. Data from 3412 performances at IWF Senior World Championships and Olympics (2019–2025) were analyzed. The median sex gap was 30.7% for the snatch and 29.3% for the clean and jerk, with smaller differences at lower body mass. Peak performance occurred at 25.4 years for both lifts. Generalized additive models accounting for location, scale, and shape of the performance distribution were used to estimate standardized scores. Scaling individual lifts onto a common metric allows for meaningful evaluation of athletes even in the presence of unsuccessful attempts in one type of lift and can illustrate performance profiles. This approach supports performance assessment, athlete monitoring, and mixed-team rankings which is particularly relevant in emerging competition formats that emphasize lift-specific contributions and mixed-sex participation.

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