On Monday, the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) announced it had reached a decision regarding which weightlifting categories it will showcase at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
- Remind Me: Despite the enactment of fresh weight classes earlier this summer, the IWF hadn't disclosed which ones would make it to LA '28.
The sport will also move away from the batch of classes held at the 2025 World Weightlifting Championships.
Why they waited: The IWF seems to have scrambled to adjust course after several shake-ups in its dealings with the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Their Nov. 3 announcement marks the third adjustment to the sport's weight classes in less than a year.
2028 Olympics: Confirmed Categories
Here are the 12 weightlifting weight classes that will be showcased at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles:
Men
65KG | 75KG | 85KG | 95KG | 110KG | +110KG
Women
53KG | 61 KG | 69KG | 77KG | 86KG | +86KG
New Categories: 2026+
The IWF has once again renovated its competition categories as a whole. These new divisions take effect Aug. 1, 2026:
Men (Senior & Junior)
60 | 65 | 70 | 75 | 85 | 95 | 110 | +110
The male Youth divisions will be 55, 60, 65, 70, 75, 85, 95, and +95KG.
Women (Senior & Junior)
49 | 53 | 57 | 61 | 69 | 77 | 86 | +86
The female Youth divisions will be 45, 49, 53, 57, 61, 69, 77, and +77KG.
The IWF has not released updated world standards at the time of this article's publication.
Worth noting: We already know the dates and locations for the biggest weightlifting meets in 2026. The following major international competitions occur prior to the Aug. 1 enforcement date:
- Asian Champs (April)
- European Champs (April)
- Oceania Champs (April)
- IWF World Cup (May)
- Junior Worlds (May)
- Pan-Am Champs (May)
- Youth Worlds (June)
- Commonwealth Games (July)
How We Got Here
The past year has been rather tumultuous for weightlifting. Here's a breakdown of how things have evolved over the last 12 months:
- In Dec. 2024, we learned the weight categories our sport has used since 2018 would be retired.
- By April, the IOC released its official programme for the 2028 Olympics, which featured no expansion; weightlifting would showcase 120 athletes across 10 events, just like the Paris Games.
- As such, the IWF announced it would make an adjustment to the Men's division—replacing the planned 98KG category with 94KG—to better stratify the classes.
- Come September, the IOC surprisingly approved one extra event per gender for the 2028 Olympics (six, up from five), though without an increase in total athlete quota.
- In October, rumors circulated at the World Champs that the IWF would again adjust its categories during an on-site Executive Board meeting in Førde.
One big thing: Increasing the amount of weight class events at the 2028 Olympics without adding to the athlete quota functionally tightens the competition.
Fewer athletes will take the stage in each event—likely changing how countries will plan to navigate the as-of-yet unreleased qualification procedure.
What we know: While unconfirmed, we believe the IWF plans to move away from the cutthroat simplicity of the Paris system.
