Weightlifting 2024 Paris Olympics Review

Men’s -61kg

Li Fabin (China) opened the snatch with a 137kg lift before setting an Olympic record at 143kg. Three other lifters opened by attempting a lift above 130kg, but only Eko Yuli Irawan (Indonesia) suceeded, on his second attempt. Both Ivan Dimov (Bulgaria) and Sergio Massidda (Italy) were eliminated witohut a lift. Three men opened the clean & jerk at 167kg with Hampton Morris (United States) opening at 168kg. Aniq Kasdan (Malaysia) and Theerapong Silachai (Thailand) both lifted 167kg on their first attempt. Fabin secured it on his second attempt and that was enough to seal gold. Morris went highest on the clean & jerk to seal bronze, whilst the consistency of Irawan secured silver.

🥇Li Fabin 🇨🇳

🥈Theerapong Silachai 🇹🇭

🥉Hampton Morris 🇺🇸

Prediction analysis; 3 medalists correct, 1 perfect prediction 

Only two lifters went over 300kg. It didn’t help that five of the twelve man field failed to complete. I thought Morris would be closer but he needs to work on his snatch

Men’s -73kg

Shi Zhiyong (China) led the snatch with 165kg lift, while five lifters cleared 150kg, led by Luis Javier Mosquera (Colombia) on 155kg. In the clean & jerk, three men opened above 190kg. Both Rizki Juniansyah (Indonesia) and Weeraphon Wichuma (Thailand) would lift it on their first attempt. Juniansyah stunned the field with an Olympic record lift of 199kg. Zhiyong failed on his second lift and, after failing on his third, surrendered his Olympic title to Juniansyah. Wichuma lifted 198kg, a junior world record and won silver. 

🥇Rizki Juniansyah 🇮🇩

🥈Weeraphon Wichuma 🇹🇭

🥉Bozhidar Andreev 🇧🇬

Prediction analysis; 2 medalists correct, 1 perfect prediction 

I felt good about my prediction here. Andreev I described as the biggest challenger to my predicted medalists and so it proved when Zhiyong failed to complete a clean & jerk lift. 

Men’s -89kg

Yeison Lopez (Colombia) opened the snatch with an impressive 175kg but by the end of the round he was tied with Karlos Nasar (Bulgaria) on 180kg. Straight away, Nasar put the pressure on the rest of the field in the clean & jerk with a lift of 213kg. In the second round, he would lift 224kg, setting a clean & jerk and overall world record. Antonino Pizzolato (Italy) recovered from two failures to lift 212kg. He took bronze as Marin Robu (Moldova) failed at the same weight, leaving him just one behind. 

🥇Karlos Nasar 🇧🇬

🥈Yeison Lopez 🇨🇴

🥉Antonino Pizzolato 🇮🇹

Prediction analysis; 2 medalists correct, 2 perfect prediction 

I predicted Nasar setting a world record and going over 400kg. I had Pizzolato to come fourth with Vallenilla struggling. 

Men’s -102kg

Lesman Paredes (Bahrain) opened the with a lift of 181kg and had three men behind him on 180kg. Akbar Djuraev (Uzbekistan) briefly went into the lead in the second round with 185kg but failed his third attempt, leaving Garik Karapetyan (Armenia) and Liu Huanhua (China) tied for the lead on 186kg. Fares El-Bakh (Qatar) was eliminated after failing to lift 178kg. In the clean & jerk, the opening attempts proved decisive. Huanhua lifted 220kg with Djuraev lifting 219kg. Yauheni Tsikhantsou (Belarus) would win bronze after lifting 219kg in the second round.  

🥇Liu Huanhua 🇨🇳

🥈Akbar Djuraev 🇺🇿

🥉Yauheni Tsikhantsou 🇧🇾

Prediction analysis; 1 medalist correct, 1 perfect prediction 

I mentioned this being one of the more competitive divisions and was proven correct. I listed six main contenders and it did contain the podium trio but picked the wrong two aside from the winner. 

Men’s +102kg 

This was all about Lasha Talakhadze (Georgia), who claimed his third straight Olympic title with a total of 470kg. For the first time, he faced real pressure. Gor Minasyan (Bahrain) led after the snatch phase with Talakhadze and Varazdat Lalayan (Armenia), just one kilogram behind. Talakhadze would lift 255kg in the clean & jerk, while Varazdat managed 252kg and Minasyan 245kg. Ali Rubaiawi (Iran) set a junior world record overall when totalling 437kg. 

🥇Lasha Talakhadze 🇬🇪

🥈Varazdat Lalayan 🇦🇲

🥉Gor Minasyan 🇧🇭

Prediction analysis; 3 medalists correct, 3 perfect predictions 

I got the top four right but it was closer than I expected. 

Women’s -49kg

Mihaela Cambei (Romania) led the snatch with an opening round 89kg lift. Hou Zhihui (China) matched that in the second round but Cambei increased to 91kg. in round two and 93kg in the third. Nina Sterckx (Belgium) failed to register a lift. In the clean & jerk, Zhihui and Surodchana Khambao (Thailand) opened with 110kg. Cambei matched that in the second round to reclaim the lead, with Khambao lifting 112kg to move into silver medal position. Cambei hit 112kg on her final attempt, but Zhihui had more in the bad, stunning the final with an Olympic record lift of 117kg to take gold. 

🥇Hou Zhihui 🇨🇳 

🥈Mihaela Cambei 🇷🇴

🥉Surodchana Khambao 🇹🇭

Prediction analysis; 2 medalists correct, 1 perfect prediction

I thought Zhihui would win this by a bigger margin but it took a big third round lift for her to take gold. Delacruz never really got involved. 

Women’s -59kg

At the end of the snatch round, five lifters were seperated by just 3kg, with Luo Shifang (China) leading on an Olympic record 107kg. Kamila Konotop (Ukraine) entered at the highest weight but managed her first lift, leaving her fifth. In the clean & jerk opening round, Shifang lifted 129kg to further her lead before setting an Olympic record of 134kg to assure herself of gold. Behind her, Yenny Alvarez (Colombia) failed to register lift while Maude Charron (Canada) and Kuo Hsing-chun (Taiwan) both lifted 130kg to secure medals. 

🥇Luo Shifang 🇨🇳

🥈Maude Charron 🇨🇦

🥉Kuo Hsing-chun 🇹🇼

Prediction analysis; 3 medalists correct, 3 perfect predictions 

Think I nailed this with Konotop not quite getting the snatch she needed. 

Women’s -71kg

Olivia Reeves (United States) opened the snatch with 112kg, edging ahead of Loredana Toma (Romania) on 111kg. Both improved to 115kg in round two. Reeves seized control with an Olympic record 117kg, just ahead of Angie Palacios (Ecuador) on 116kg. In the clean & jerk, Reeves started with 140kg before improving to 145kg. It was enough to take gold, the first American weightlifting gold since 2000. Mari Sanchez (Colombia) matched 145kg to earn the silver. Toma failed to register a lift.

🥇Olivia Reeves 🇺🇸

🥈Mari Sanchez 🇨🇴

🥉Angie Palacios 🇪🇨

Prediction analysis; 2 medalists correct, 1 perfect prediction

Sanchez was someone that I overlooked 

Women’s -81kg 

Solfrid Koanda (Norway) led early in the snatch, only for Neisi Dajomes (Ecuador) to land the biggest lift of the phase, in the third round with a 122kg lift. In the clean & jerk, Koanda reclaimed the lead with a strong 148kg opener, with Dajomes faltering. Another three lifters went over 145kg in the opening round. Koanda extended her lead, lifting 154kg with Sara Ahmed (Egypt) lifting 151kg. Dajomes made a lift in the third round, putting herself into bronze medal position, and with no improvements in the final round, the podium was set.

🥇Solfrid Koanda 🇳🇴

🥈Sara Ahmed 🇪🇬

🥉Nejsi Dajomes 🇪🇨

Prediction analysis; 3 medalists correct, 1 perfect prediction

I was the wrong way round on gold and bronze 

Women’s +81kg 

Li Wenwen (China) seized control from the start lifting 136kg in the snatch and never looked in danger of losing her lead. Park Hye-jeong (South Korea) followed with 131kg, while Emily Campbell (Great Britain) lifted 126kg. In the clean & jerk, Wenwen lifted 173kg to seal goal. Park and Campbell repeated their snatch positions to take silver and bronze respectively.

🥇Li Wenwen 🇨🇳

🥈Park Hye-jeong 🇰🇷

🥉Emily Campbell 🇬🇧

Prediction analysis; 3 medalists correct, 3 perfect predictions

Wenwen was dominant as expected. I also thought the other competitors may struggle to get to 300. Once Campbell was third in the snatch, I don’t think it was a massive surprise that she won bronze.