Can a lifter change the weight after declaring it?

• The declaration: between attempts the coach or lifter submits the next weight at the marshal's table, even if it is the automatic increase. This allows two further changes.
• No declaration: if nothing is submitted before the 30-second signal, the lifter takes the automatic progression.
• The cut-off: changes may be submitted in the first 30 seconds after the clock starts for the lifter's attempt, not in the final 30 seconds.
• When following yourself: the next attempt must be declared within the first 30 seconds after being called, or the two changes are forfeited.
• The clock during a change: if the lifter still lifts next at the heavier weight, the clock stops while the bar is changed and then continues. If the change puts another lifter first, a fresh one minute applies when the lifter is called again.
• Going down: an attempt cannot be lowered once the clock has started for the lifter at a higher weight, and cannot be lowered to a weight already lifted by a lifter who should have followed.
• Openers: a change to the starting attempts declared at the weigh-in counts as one of the two changes.

Weight changes are the tactics of the sport: a coach raises an attempt to make a rival lift first, or to claim a medal by a single kilogram. The limit of two and the 30-second cut-off keep that contest of nerves from stalling the session and give the loaders time to work.