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Weightlifting weight classes: the 2026 IWF categories, LA 2028, and the 2-hour weigh-in
Weightlifting changed its weight classes twice in fourteen months. A new set came in on 1 June 2025, and a second set replaced it on 1 August 2026, alongside the six categories per sex that will be contested at the Los Angeles Olympics. Most charts online still show one of the older sets. The current classes are below in kilograms and pounds, with the Olympic list, the history that explains the old charts, and the weigh-in rule that decides how a class can be made.
From 1 August 2026, the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) has eight bodyweight categories for each sex, the same for senior and junior lifters.
Men: 60, 65, 70, 75, 85, 95, 110 and +110 kg. Women: 49, 53, 57, 61, 69, 77, 86 and +86 kg.
Youth lifters have their own eight. Six of the senior categories per sex will be contested at the LA 2028 Olympic Games: 65, 75, 85, 95, 110 and +110 kg for men, 53, 61, 69, 77, 86 and +86 kg for women.
The weigh-in opens two hours before the group starts and lasts one hour.
Senior and junior weight classes, kg and lb
The IWF sets the categories in kilograms. The pound figures are conversions, rounded to a tenth of a pound.
Men
| Class | In pounds |
|---|---|
| 60 kg | up to 132.3 lb |
| 65 kg | up to 143.3 lb |
| 70 kg | up to 154.3 lb |
| 75 kg | up to 165.3 lb |
| 85 kg | up to 187.4 lb |
| 95 kg | up to 209.4 lb |
| 110 kg | up to 242.5 lb |
| +110 kg | over 242.5 lb |
Women
| Class | In pounds |
|---|---|
| 49 kg | up to 108.0 lb |
| 53 kg | up to 116.8 lb |
| 57 kg | up to 125.7 lb |
| 61 kg | up to 134.5 lb |
| 69 kg | up to 152.1 lb |
| 77 kg | up to 169.8 lb |
| 86 kg | up to 189.6 lb |
| +86 kg | over 189.6 lb |
The IWF Technical and Competition Rules define the age groups by year of birth: youth 13 to 17, junior 15 to 20, senior 15 and over. A lifter in the overlap can be entered as youth, junior or senior, depending on the competition.
Youth weight classes
Boys
| Class | In pounds |
|---|---|
| 55 kg | up to 121.3 lb |
| 60 kg | up to 132.3 lb |
| 65 kg | up to 143.3 lb |
| 70 kg | up to 154.3 lb |
| 75 kg | up to 165.3 lb |
| 85 kg | up to 187.4 lb |
| 95 kg | up to 209.4 lb |
| +95 kg | over 209.4 lb |
Girls
| Class | In pounds |
|---|---|
| 45 kg | up to 99.2 lb |
| 49 kg | up to 108.0 lb |
| 53 kg | up to 116.8 lb |
| 57 kg | up to 125.7 lb |
| 61 kg | up to 134.5 lb |
| 69 kg | up to 152.1 lb |
| 77 kg | up to 169.8 lb |
| +77 kg | over 169.8 lb |
Youth lifters should compete at the weight they are. Nothing on this page about making weight applies to anyone under 18.
The Olympic weightlifting categories for LA 2028
Six categories per sex, twelve in all, with the athlete quota unchanged at 120 lifters: 60 men and 60 women.
Men: 65, 75, 85, 95, 110 and +110 kg. Women: 53, 61, 69, 77, 86 and +86 kg.
Paris 2024 had five per sex: 61, 73, 89, 102 and +102 kg for men, and 49, 59, 71, 81 and +81 kg for women. The IOC approved one extra category for each sex in September 2025, and the IWF set the list in November 2025.
Four of the IWF categories are not on the Olympic programme: 60 and 70 kg for men, 49 and 57 kg for women. A woman who lifted at 49 kg in Paris has no category of her own in Los Angeles. Her nearest one is 53 kg.
What changed, and when
| Period | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 to May 2025 | 55, 61, 67, 73, 81, 89, 96, 102, 109, +109 | 45, 49, 55, 59, 64, 71, 76, 81, 87, +87 |
| 1 June 2025 to 31 July 2026 | 60, 65, 71, 79, 88, 94, 110, +110 | 48, 53, 58, 63, 69, 77, 86, +86 |
| From 1 August 2026 | 60, 65, 70, 75, 85, 95, 110, +110 | 49, 53, 57, 61, 69, 77, 86, +86 |
A chart with ten classes per sex comes from before June 2025. A chart showing 71, 79 or 88 kg for men comes from the year between the two changes.
USA Weightlifting moved its sanctioned competitions to the new categories on 1 August 2026, so a US meet from that date uses the same classes as an IWF event.
If your category disappeared in August 2026
| Lifted at in 2025–26 | Lower option now | Higher option now |
|---|---|---|
| Men 71 kg | 70 kg, 1 kg down | 75 kg, 4 kg up |
| Men 79 kg | 75 kg, 4 kg down | 85 kg, 6 kg up |
| Men 88 kg | 85 kg, 3 kg down | 95 kg, 7 kg up |
| Men 94 kg | 85 kg, 9 kg down | 95 kg, 1 kg up |
| Women 48 kg | none: 49 kg is now the lightest | 49 kg, 1 kg up |
| Women 58 kg | 57 kg, 1 kg down | 61 kg, 3 kg up |
| Women 63 kg | 61 kg, 2 kg down | 69 kg, 6 kg up |
The categories at 60 and 65 kg for men and at 53, 69, 77 and 86 kg for women did not move, and neither did 110 kg and the super-heavyweight category for men.
For a lifter who sat at 79 kg, neither option is small. Four kilos down is a change of body weight over months, and the two-hour weigh-in leaves no room to take it off in the last days. Six kilos up means lifting against people who are heavier by design. The decision belongs to the training block, well before entries close.
The weigh-in: two hours, then one
The weigh-in for each group opens two hours before the group starts and lasts one hour. A lifter on the scale at the earliest moment has two hours before the first snatch. One who weighs in at the last minute has one.
This is the same clock as a same-day weigh-in in combat sports, and it decides the plan the same way. Whatever comes off as water has to go back in within an hour or two, and the next thing the body is asked to do is a maximal lift. A day-before weigh-in, the format most fight sports use, allows roughly twice as much to come off. Same-day weigh-ins sets out why, and rehydration after the weigh-in covers what the window can and cannot do.
Powerlifting runs the same two-hour format at IPF events, and its classes are on the powerlifting weight classes page. Every sport's weigh-in clock is side by side in the weigh-in rules table.
Choosing a class
The right class is the one you can arrive at with almost nothing left to take off on the day. In practice that means picking it from your normal training weight across the block, rather than from the lightest weight you have ever seen on the scale.
The weight cut calculator shows the safe acute loss for a same-day weigh-in, the format a two-hour weigh-in belongs to. How far above a limit to sit between competitions is set out in what weight class to compete at.
Common questions
How many weight classes are there in weightlifting?
From 1 August 2026, the IWF has eight per sex for senior and junior lifters, and a separate eight per sex for youth lifters. The LA 2028 Olympic Games will use six per sex.
What are the new weightlifting weight classes for 2026?
Men: 60, 65, 70, 75, 85, 95, 110 and +110 kg. Women: 49, 53, 57, 61, 69, 77, 86 and +86 kg. They replaced the June 2025 set on 1 August 2026.
What are the Olympic weightlifting weight classes for LA 2028?
Men: 65, 75, 85, 95, 110 and +110 kg. Women: 53, 61, 69, 77, 86 and +86 kg. Twelve categories and 120 lifters in total.
When is the weigh-in in weightlifting?
It opens two hours before the group starts and stays open for one hour.
Does bodyweight break a tie in weightlifting?
Not under IWF rules. If two lifters finish on the same total, the one who lifted it first ranks higher.
Can a youth lifter cut weight for a competition?
This page does not cover making weight for anyone under 18. Youth lifters should compete in the class that matches the weight they are.
Educational content, not medical advice. Categories and rules change: check the current rules of the federation running your competition before relying on this page.
Two complete sample documents are free to read before you buy anything.
Oleksandr Foka is a sports nutritionist with over a decade in professional sport. He wrestled freestyle from the age of 4 until he was 22, competing as a medallist and champion at Ukrainian and international level, and has worked with amateur boxers since 2017, including champions and medallists at world championships. He has worked in world title camps in boxing with Oleksandr Usyk, Oleksandr Gvozdyk, Denys Berinchyk, Vladyslav Sirenko, Murodjon Ahmadaliev, Israil Madrimov, Sergiy Bogachuk, Sabirzhan Akkalykov and Abylaikhan Zhussupov, and with the Kazakhstan national boxing team and with Kazakhstan judo athletes, and currently works on the WTA tour.
Oleksandr Foka — sports nutritionist. Questions: fokaoleksandr@gmail.com
Educational content, not medical treatment. For adults 18+. Sanctioning body rules change: confirm the current requirements with the body governing your bout before planning around them. Extreme cuts require supervision by a physician and a qualified specialist.