Paris, Aug 9 (AP) A hulking weightlifter raises a bar of more than 300 pounds (135 kilograms) and swiftly drops it the ground, followed by cheers cascading down from the crowd. Before another competitor can step up, a handful of people seated nearby scurry up the stairs and onto the stage to reset. They remove discs and bolt new ones on either side, clean the bar and reposition it in the perfect spot.
Every few tries, someone wipes down the platform like a basketball court. Weight attempts change on the fly mid-competition, so they are constantly asked to make multiple adjustments. Weightlifting would not be possible at the 2024 Paris Olympics or anywhere else without loaders, who perform a role similar to pit crews changing tires and refueling race cars.
It's a fast-paced, essential task to make sure the bar weighs what it is supposed to weigh — quickly — and the conditions are their best for the top lifters in the world to do what they have spent the past four years training for. “The priority is to stay calm because if you are not calm, you're going to get in a rush and make many mistakes,” loader Jessy Graillot told The Associated Press on Thursday. “We have to stay calm and communicate a lot with the team.
We all have work to do, and we know what to do.” Graillot is one of 14 loaders at the Paris Games, all from France's under-23 and under-20 weightlifting teams. Many of them went through a test event to get a sense of the responsibilities, and the entire co-.