Weightlifting at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Men's 56 kg

Total score was the sum of the lifter's best result in each of the snatch and the clean and jerk, with three lifts allowed for each lift. In case of a tie, the lighter lifter won; if still tied, the lifter who took the fewest attempts to achieve the total score won. Lifters without a valid snatch score did not perform the clean and jerk.[2]

On 22 December 2018, it was announced that Azerbaijan's Valentin Hristov, London 2012 Olympic bronze medalist, had tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs.[3] In March 2019, Hristov was disqualified after the re-analysis of his samples were positive for oralturinabol.[4] Medals were reallocated.[5]

All times are British Summer Time (UTC+01:00)

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.

World Record	Snatch	Halil Mutlu (TUR)	138 kg	Antalya, Turkey	4 November 2001
	Clean & Jerk	Halil Mutlu (TUR)	168 kg	Trenčín, Slovakia	24 April 2001
	Total	Halil Mutlu (TUR)	305 kg	Sydney, Australia	16 September 2000
Olympic Record	Snatch	Halil Mutlu (TUR)	138 kg	Sydney, Australia	16 September 2000
	Clean & Jerk	Halil Mutlu (TUR)	167 kg	Sydney, Australia	16 September 2000
	Total	Halil Mutlu (TUR)	305 kg	Sydney, Australia	16 September 2000

• Results