Introduction

Ashish Sharma explores the problems facing one of the world’s oldest sports.

A governance crisis has engulfed the sport of weightlifting and it faces an uncertain future, and as it stands weightlifting won´t feature in the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.

We explore the financial implications for this iconic Olympic sport if it loses the funding it gets for being on the Olympic agenda. We speak to young weightlifters about their future in the sport, attend a weightlifting contest in Mexico and report from the election for the new head of the International Weightlifting Federation.

Producer / presenter: Ashish Sharma Image: Turkey's Daniyar Ismayilov competes at Rio 2016; Credit: Salih Zeki Fazlolu / Anadolu Agency / Getty Images