Men’s -61kg
Li Fabin (China) opened with a 137kg lift in the snatch before going onto lift an Olympic record 143kg. Three other men opened with a lift above 130kg and only Eko Yuli Irawan (Indonesia) managed it, on his second lift. Both Ivan Dimov (Bulgaria) and Sergio Massidda (Italy) were eliminated with no lift. Three men opened the clean & jerk on 167kg with Hampton Morris (United States) opening with 168kg. Aniq Kasdan (Malaysia) and Theerapong Silachai (Thailand) both lifted 167kg on their first attempt. Fabin would get it on his second attempt and that was enough to take gold. Morris went highest on the clean & jerk to seal bronze.
🥇Li Fabin 🇨🇳
🥈Theerapong Silachai 🇹🇭
🥉Hampton Morris 🇺🇸
Only two lifters went over 300. 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 section of the event with an 165kg lift. Five men lifted over 150kg, led by Luis Javier Mosquera (Colombia) on 155kg. In the clean & jerk, three men started over 190kg. Both Rizki Juniansyah (Indonesia) and Weeraphon Wichuma (Thailand) would lift it on their first attempt. Juniansyah went up to 199kg, setting an Olympic record. Zhiyong would have a second fail and when he failed again on his third attempt it gave the Olympic title to Juniansyah. Wichuma went to 198kg, a junior world record and won silver.
🥇Rizki Juniansyah 🇮🇩
🥈Weeraphon Wichuma 🇹🇭
🥉Bozhidar Andreev 🇧🇬
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 with the biggest lift in the snatch, at 175kg. By the end of the snatch 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) would lift 212kg in the third round after two failures. He would take bronze as Marin Robu (Moldova) failed to lift 212kg, leaving him just one behind.
🥇Karlos Nasar 🇧🇬
🥈Yeison Lopez 🇨🇴
🥉Antonino Pizzolato 🇮🇹
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) entered the snatch stage with 181kg and had three men behind him on 180kg. Akbar Djuraev (Uzbekistan) went into the lead in the second round when lifting 185kg but couldn’t manage a lift third round. Instead it was Garik Karapetyan (Armenia) and Liu Huanhua (China) who led on 186kg. Fares El-Bakh (Qatar) was eliminated after failing to lift 178kg. The first round was key in the clean & jerk. 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 🇧🇾
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) and he won a third straight Olympic title with a total of 470kg. He was pushed more than ever before though. Gor Minasyan (Bahrain) led after the snatch phase with Talakhadze and Varazdat Lalayan (Armenia), a kilogram behind. Talakhadze would lift 255kg in the clean & jerk with Varazdat managing 252kg and Minasyan 245kg. Ali Rubaiawi (Iran) would set a junior world record overall when totalling 437kg.
🥇Lasha Talakhadze 🇬🇪
🥈Varazdat Lalayan 🇦🇲
🥉Gor Minasyan 🇧🇭
I got the top four right but it was closer than I expected.
Women’s -49kg
Mihaela Cambei (Romania) led with an opening round 89kg in the snatch. Hou Zhihui (China) would match that in the second round but Cambei increased to 91kg. She would just extend her lead by lifting 93kg in the third round. Nina Sterckx (Belgium) would not manage a lift. In the clean & jerk both Zhihui and Surodchana Khambao(Thailand) lifted 110kg in the opening round. In the second round, Cambei matched her to go back into the lead. Khambao lifted 112kg in round two to put herself into second. Cambei lifted 112kg in the third round but Zhihui lifted an Olympic record 117kg to take gold.
🥇Hou Zhihui 🇨🇳
🥈Mihaela Cambei 🇷🇴
🥉Surodchana Khambao 🇹🇭
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 ladies were within 3kg of the lead. That was an Olympic record 107kg, set by Luo Shifang (China). Kamila Konotop (Ukraine) entered at the highest weight but only made her first lift to leave herself in fifth. Shifang lifted 129kg in the opening clean & jerk round to further her lead. She would then lift 134kg to set an Olympic record and assure herself of gold. Behind her Yenny Alvarez (Colombia) was not able to complete a lift. Maude Charron (Canada) and Kuo Hsing-chun (Taiwan) both lifted 130kg to secure medals.
🥇Luo Shifang 🇨🇳
🥈Maude Charron 🇨🇦
🥉Kuo Hsing-chun 🇹🇼
Think I nailed this with Konotop not quite getting the snatch she needed.
Women’s -71kg
Olivia Reeves (United States) led with an opening round of 112kg, ahead of Loredana Toma (Romania) on 111kg. Both would lift 115kg in round two. Reeves would take the advantage with an Olympic record 117kg lift ahead of Angie Palacios (Ecuador) on 116kg. In the clean & jerk, Reeves opened with a 140kg before improving to 145kg. It was enough to take gold, the first American weightlifting gold since 2000. Mari Sanchez (Colombia) matched that to earn the silver. Toma would not manage a lift.
🥇Olivia Reeves 🇺🇸
🥈Mari Sanchez 🇨🇴
🥉Angie Palacios 🇪🇨
Sanchez was someone that I overlooked
Women’s -81kg
Solfrid Koanda (Norway) led the snatch with lifts in the first two rounds, only for Neisi Dajomes (Ecuador) to land the biggest lift of the snatch section with a 122kg lift. Koanda would go back into the lead with a 148kg opening round clean & jerk. Dajomes did not manage a lift and the pressure was put on as two lifters managed 145kg and one other 146kg. In the second round, Koanda went to 154kg with Sara Ahmed (Egypt) lifting 151kg. Dajomes would make her lift to put herself into bronze medal position and with no one improving their lifts in the third round, the podium was secured.
🥇Solfrid Koanda 🇳🇴
🥈Sara Ahmed 🇪🇬
🥉Nejsi Dajomes 🇪🇨
I was the wrong way round on gold and bronze
Women’s +81kg
Li Wenwen (China) went straight into a lead that she never seemed in danger of relinquishing. She went to 136kg in the snatch. Park Hye-jeong (South Korea) was behind her on 131kg with Emily Campbell (Great Britain) on 126kg. Wenwen would lift 173kg in the clean & jerk section. It was a repeat of the standings in the snatch phase as Hye-jeong was second ahead of Campbell.
🥇Li Wenwen 🇨🇳
🥈Park Hye-jeong 🇰🇷
🥉Emily Campbell 🇬🇧
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.
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