A roadmap to follow for the weightlifting competition during the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris.
Athletes to watch
Hampton Morris, United States: At 20, the Marietta, Georgia, native will be the youngest American weightlifter to compete at the Olympics since Cheryl Haworth in 2000. Morris broke the clean and jerk 61-kilogram world record by lifting 388 pounds (176 kilograms) at a World Cup event in Thailand earlier this year.
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Lasha Talakhadze, Georgia: Having set 26 world records over the course of his career, the 30-year-old back-to-back Olympic champion in the heaviest weight class is returning to try for a three-peat. He’s back after missing the European championships earlier this year because of a knee injury.
Maude Charron, Canada: The 64 kg gold medalist in Tokyo is again one of the top contenders, now in the 59 kg division. The 31-year-old from Quebec is just one of five Canadians — men or women — to win an Olympic medal in the sport.
Yekta Jamali, Refugee Team: From Iran initially, she fled to Germany two years ago because she faced discrimination for being a woman in the sport. A world junior silver medalist, Jamali is not even 19 yet and hopes to win a medal as part of the IOC Refugee Team.
Storylines to follow
Doping troubles have dogged weightlifting, to the point the IOC threatened to remove it from the Olympic program beginning in 2028. It has had a reprieve and been confirmed for Los Angeles after leadership changes and attempted reforms, but drug testing will be heavily scrutinized in Paris.
The last U.S. men’s weightlifting medalists were Mario Martinez and Guy Carlton in 1984 and the last to win gold was Paul Anderson in 1956. Hampton Morris stands the best chance of adding a new chapter to that history, though defending champion Li Fabin of China is formidable competition.
China has another chance to dominate in weightlifting after leading the Tokyo Olympics with seven gold medals and eight overall. No other country had more than one gold.
Key dates
Aug. 7: Men’s 61kg and women’s 49kg
Aug. 8: Women’s 59kg and men’s 73kg
Aug. 9: Men’s 89kg and women’s 71kg
Aug. 10: Men’s 102kg, women’s 81kg and men’s +102kg
Aug. 11: Women’s +81kg
Reigning champions
Men
61kg: Li Fabin, China
67kg: Chen Lijun, China
73kg: Shi Zhiyong, China
81kg: Lu Xiaojun, China
96kg: Fares Ibrahim, Qatar
109kg: Akbar Djuraev, Uzbekistan
+109kg: Lasha Talakhadze, Georgia
Women
49kg: Hou Zhihui, China
55kg: Hidilyn Diaz, Philippines
59kg: Kuo Hsing-chun, Taiwan
64kg: Maude Charron, Canada
76kg: Neisi Dajomes, Ecuador
87kg: Wang Zhouyu, China
+87kg: Li Wenwen, China
