The 2017 IWF World Weightlifting Championships have come to a close in Anaheim, California, and one of the biggest questions on everyone's mind is how the winning totals compared to previous years. 

Were the 2017 IWF World Championships weaker than recent years? If so, by how much?

We took the results from the 2013, 2015, and 2017 worlds and compared the winning totals in every division — and noticed a significant change. This could be due to a multitude of factors, but the most obvious is the 2017 ban of nine of the most historically competitive countries due to massive doping scandals called out by the IWF. 

We picked 2013 because it was the most recent world championship event immediately following an Olympic year, and 2015 because it was the most recent world championship and noticeably plagued by a large number of positive doping tests.

We then took a look at the top totals in the past years to determine just how much of a staggering difference there was this year compared to previous championships.

Men's Competition In 2017 Compared To 2015 And 2013

Women's Competition In 2017 Compared To 2015 And 2013

A red table signals that the 2017 winning total was less than the winning total for that year of competition. In parentheses next to the respective winning totals from each year is how much smaller or greater the 2017 winning total is compared to that year.

By Steph Lodge