What is the clean and jerk?

The clean:

1. The lifter grips the bar palms downward and pulls it in a single movement from the platform to the shoulders, while splitting or bending the legs.
2. The bar must not touch the chest before it stops at its final position on the collarbones, the chest or fully bent arms.
3. The lifter recovers in their own time, with the feet on the same line and the legs fully extended.

The jerk:

1. The lifter must be motionless, knees fully extended, before starting.
2. The lifter bends and then extends the legs and arms together to move the bar upwards in one motion to the full extent of the arms, while lowering the body under it and splitting or bending the legs.
3. The feet return to the same line, arms and legs fully extended.
4. The lifter waits for the signal to lower the bar.

• Adjusting the bar before the jerk: allowed to unhook the thumbs, if breathing is impeded, if the bar causes pain or to change the width of the grip. This is not a second attempt at the jerk.
• Elbows and thighs: in the clean, touching the thighs or the knees with the elbows or the upper arms is a fault.
• One go at the jerk: any apparent effort to jerk that is not completed, including lowering the body or bending the knees, is a fault.
• Bouncing the bar: deliberate oscillation of the bar to gain advantage is a fault.

The glossary has separate entries for the clean, the jerk and the split jerk.

The stop at the shoulders lets a lifter raise far more weight than in the snatch, so this lift decides most competitions. The rules keep the two parts honest: one pull to the shoulders with no resting place on the way, and one drive overhead with no second push.