Tokyo Olympic Recap
The 2020 (2021?) Olympics in Tokyo are concluding as I’m writing this. The weightlifting action finished up three days ago. And lordy, what a show it was.
There’s a twinge of sadness floating through the air that most of us are trying to avoid at the moment. I’m talking about the possibility that this might be the last time we see weightlifting in the Olympics. As we all know, the International Olympic Committee is seriously threatening to remove weightlifting from the Olympic program because of our sport’s massive history of doping and corruption. I’m not going to dig into that subject in this article, mainly because I’ve already written about it several times and most of the weightlifting community is fully aware of what’s going on. We all just have to wait and see now.
Instead, I’m going to do a recap of the platform action in Tokyo. There might be dark clouds on the horizon, but we’ve definitely got bright moments to focus on today. I’ll go through each weight class, men’s and women’s, and take a look at some of the headline stories we got to see.
Might as well get straight to it, right?
Women’s 49 kg
The normal routine in the lightest weight classes is Chinese winners and silver/bronze medals from other Asian countries, with the occasional European popping onto the podium. That’s the standard script at the international level, and this one was no different. China’s Zhihui Hou won easily with a 210 kg total, and most of her lifts looked like warmups. India and Indonesia rounded out the podium.
US lifter Jourdan Delacruz hit the platform in this class, and the excitement from the American weightlifting community couldn’t have been higher. After a good snatch performance (86 kg), she was in excellent position for a medal. And then disaster struck when she missed all three clean and jerk attempts at 108 kg. It was a heartbreaker for everyone, and obviously for Jourdan especially. I’m not going to do any kind of performance analysis in this article. Suffice to say we’re all behind Jourdan and wishing her a triumphant comeback in the future.
Men’s 61 kg
You can duplicate what I said about the women’s 49 kg when you think about the common expectations in the lightest men’s class. And the results followed suit. Fabin Li from China scored the gold with a 313 kg total, easily outdistancing Irawan from Indonesia and Son from Kazakhstan, who took silver and bronze respectively.
Want to hear something crazy? And this isn’t intended to disrespect Li or any other competitor in this class. Back at the 1988 Olympics, Naim Suleymanoglu from Turkey totaled 342.5 kg to win the 60 kg class. He was one kilo lighter than Li, and he totaled thirty kilos more. I mention it for no other reason than to pay tribute to the greatest weightlifter in history, since this is the first Olympics since his death in 2017.
Men’s 67 kg
Yet another gold for China, but this one was a slobberknocker. Lijun Chen put up a 332 kg total to squeak out a one kilo win over the red-hot Luis Mosquera from Colombia. Mosquera has been quite the sensation in recent years with his freaky speed and insane performances at various Pan Am meets, and it was almost his big moment here. He needed to have the day of his life, and China needed to make a mistake. Unfortunately, he learned one of the fundamental rules in weightlifting: China doesn’t make mistakes. Mirko Zanni from the resurgent Italian team took bronze.
Women’s 55 kg
This class provided one of the finest moments of the Tokyo Olympics when Hidilyn Diaz, competing in her fourth Olympic Games, won the gold medal on her last clean and jerk, defeating China and giving the Philippines its first Olympic gold medal in history. Hidilyn’s story could be made into a movie, all the way down to her training with a broomstick and milk jugs during the pandemic. I heard she got $660,000 and two houses from the Filipino government for her win. I hope it’s true, because she deserves every nickel of it. Kazakhstan’s Zulfiya Chinshanlo, fresh off a long doping suspension, took bronze.
Women’s 59 kg
One of the easiest victories in the Olympics came in this class, when Chinese Taipei’s longtime star Kuo Hsing-Chun totaled 236 kg for the gold, which was 19 kg ahead of silver medalist Polina Guryeva from Turkmenistan. Mikiko Ando got host country Japan on the podium with her bronze medal. Kuo is a real fan favorite in weightlifting, and her big day finally arrived in Tokyo. I’ve liked her ever since she won $61,000 from her government for winning the 2017 Summer Universiade and she donated all of it to the impoverished community she came from.
Women’s 64 kg
I’ve always said that if it can’t be a US lifter on the top of the podium, I hope it’s a Canadian. Our wiseass brothers and sisters from the north have to fight for their podium positions at the international level, just like the US does, and that’s why I was pleased as punch to see Maude Charron bring home the gold in this class with a 236 kg total. Italian Giorgia Bordignon scored silver with a tremendous day that she was ecstatic about, and Chen from Taipei took bronze. Many weightlifting fans were disappointed that Romania’s Loredana Toma didn’t get to compete in this class, but her country’s repeated doping violations kept her home.
Men’s 73 kg
Another gold for China, and a second Olympic victory for Shi Zhiyong, who dominated the class with a stunning 364 kg total. Shi was 18 kg ahead of silver medalist Julio Mayora from Venezuela and Rahmat Abdullah from Indonesia. The Chinese freight train just keeps rolling.
US superstar CJ Cummings was probably the most anticipated American lifter of the Tokyo Games, but he had a tough day. His 325 kg total was 22 kg below his American record, and he placed 9th. Most people expected him to compete for a medal, but it wasn’t his moment YET. As with Jourdan, we’ll all get behind CJ and look forward to an outstanding comeback next time.
Men’s 81 kg class
Somebody asked me right after this if I thought it would be Lu Xiaojun’s last Olympics. Yeah, I think it will be. This was his third Olympics and he’s 37 years old, which is ancient by elite weightlifting standards and BEYOND ancient for Chinese-level training. He pulled out another win here with a stellar 374 kg total, easily outdistancing Dominican Bonnat and Italian Pizzolato, who rounded out the podium. If he sails off into the sunset, he’ll always be one of the greats.
And US fans finally got the action they wanted when 21-year-old Harrison Maurus placed 4th in this class with an outstanding 361 kg total and a very close attempt at an Olympic record 205 kg C&J, which would have given him the bronze medal. Competing in his first Olympics, Harrison looked like an old pro out there, giving the US its highest men’s finish at the Olympics since Mario Martinez in 1988.
Men’s 96 kg
Egyptian-born Meso Hassona pulled out a stroke of luck with his Olympic appearance. His home country (Egypt) was suspended from the Olympics because of doping violations, so Meso lifted for Qatar in this Games under the name Fares Ibrahim Elbakh, winning the gold easily with a huge 402 kg total. I don’t know the political moves involved in this whole situation, but I’m sure they were squeaky clean…
Vallenilla of Venezuela and Plyesnoy of Georgia rounded out silver and bronze, and they needed everything they could muster to fight off the charge of Canadian Boady Santavy, who had a ferocious performance and finished in 4th place by 1 kg. Terrific day for Boady, who’s the son of former Canadian great Dallas Santavy.
Women’s 76 kg
American fans were chomping at the bit to watch world champion Kate Nye compete, and we weren’t disappointed. Kate crushed a 249 kg total for silver, with the only blemish on her day being a 114 kg 3rd attempt snatch that was turned down (rightly) by the jury because she accidentally dropped the bar illegally after completing the lift. A minor infraction in an otherwise marvelous day, putting Kate on the podium behind Ecuador’s Neisi Dajomes, who had an earth-shaking meet that led to a whopping 263 kg total. Mexico’s Aremi Fuentes took the bronze.
Women’s 87 kg
China, as you’ve seen, usually wins the classes they enter. This one was no exception, as Wang Zhouyu took the gold with a 270 kg total, outdistancing silver medalist Salazar from Ecuador and Dominican Santana, who took bronze.
US superstar Mattie Rogers was hoping to contend for a medal in Tokyo, but her valiant effort wasn’t quite enough to hit the podium. Her 246 total placed her sixth in a tough class, and she actually missed her first two clean and jerks before gutting out a good third attempt to save the day. Mattie has been around for a while, but she’s still young and we hope to see her on the Olympic stage again.
Women’s 87+ kg
Different Chinese lifter, same result. Gold for Li Wenwen with a 320 kg total, 37 kg ahead of Britain’s Emily Campbell and guess who? American Sarah Robles, who pulled out her second Olympic medal with her bronze in Tokyo, producing another fine total of 282 kg. The expected controversy over transgender athlete Laurel Hubbard of New Zealand never materialized, as Hubbard missed all three snatches.
Men’s 109 kg
Armenia’s Simon Martirosyan was the clear favorite in this class. Everybody expected him to win, but he didn’t. Uzbekistan’s Akbar Djuraev did, with a big 430 kg total. Martirosyan tried the C&J he needed for victory, but it wasn’t there. Latvia’s longtime veteran Arturs Plesnieks finally reached the Olympic podium with the bronze medal.
American Wes Kitts hit a remarkable 177 kg American record snatch and a solid 213 kg C&J for a 390 kg total and 8th place. Wes earned his Olympic spot through an amazing amount of hard work and competitive results, and we hope to see him back on the platform again in 2024. A 400+ total isn’t out of range for this stud athlete.
Men’s 109+ kg
Olympic weightlifting these days could be re-named The Lasha Talakhadze Show. It’s reached a point where we all just sit back and wonder HOW MUCH he’s going to break the world records by. His performance here was his best ever, the best ever in the superheavyweight class, and one of the most phenomenal demonstrations of strength and technique you’ll ever see in any sport. 488 kg. Holy balls. To answer your question: yes, he could total 500 kg any time he wants to.
Davoudi from Iran and Assad from Syria were second and third, and US veteran Caine Wilkes produced a solid 390 kg total for 9th place. Caine has been our top US super for over a decade and he’s literally the nicest guy in American weightlifting, so it was a pleasure to see him add the Olympic Games to his amazing list of accomplishments.
That’s all, folks!
It was a superb Olympics for weightlifting. Excitement, upsets, records, tears of joy, huge numbers…everything you could ask for. I’ve heard some people over the years say things like, “Who cares if we get kicked out of the Olympics?! Screw the Olympics!”
Wrong, wrong, wrong. You can say all you want about the Olympics, with the politics and the corruption and the greed and all the other negatives you want to come up with. But at the end of the day, there’s still nothing like it. It’s the most special, magical, holy territory an athlete can reach, and it would be godawful if weightlifting gets kicked out.
I hope it doesn’t happen, because we’ll never get to have the kind of thrills we saw in Tokyo again. Let’s all keep our fingers crossed that we get to see many more.
There’s a twinge of sadness floating through the air that most of us are trying to avoid at the moment. I’m talking about the possibility that this might be the last time we see weightlifting in the Olympics. As we all know, the International Olympic Committee is seriously threatening to remove weightlifting from the Olympic program because of our sport’s massive history of doping and corruption. I’m not going to dig into that subject in this article, mainly because I’ve already written about it several times and most of the weightlifting community is fully aware of what’s going on. We all just have to wait and see now.
Instead, I’m going to do a recap of the platform action in Tokyo. There might be dark clouds on the horizon, but we’ve definitely got bright moments to focus on today. I’ll go through each weight class, men’s and women’s, and take a look at some of the headline stories we got to see.
Might as well get straight to it, right?
Women’s 49 kg
The normal routine in the lightest weight classes is Chinese winners and silver/bronze medals from other Asian countries, with the occasional European popping onto the podium. That’s the standard script at the international level, and this one was no different. China’s Zhihui Hou won easily with a 210 kg total, and most of her lifts looked like warmups. India and Indonesia rounded out the podium.
US lifter Jourdan Delacruz hit the platform in this class, and the excitement from the American weightlifting community couldn’t have been higher. After a good snatch performance (86 kg), she was in excellent position for a medal. And then disaster struck when she missed all three clean and jerk attempts at 108 kg. It was a heartbreaker for everyone, and obviously for Jourdan especially. I’m not going to do any kind of performance analysis in this article. Suffice to say we’re all behind Jourdan and wishing her a triumphant comeback in the future.
Men’s 61 kg
You can duplicate what I said about the women’s 49 kg when you think about the common expectations in the lightest men’s class. And the results followed suit. Fabin Li from China scored the gold with a 313 kg total, easily outdistancing Irawan from Indonesia and Son from Kazakhstan, who took silver and bronze respectively.
Want to hear something crazy? And this isn’t intended to disrespect Li or any other competitor in this class. Back at the 1988 Olympics, Naim Suleymanoglu from Turkey totaled 342.5 kg to win the 60 kg class. He was one kilo lighter than Li, and he totaled thirty kilos more. I mention it for no other reason than to pay tribute to the greatest weightlifter in history, since this is the first Olympics since his death in 2017.
Men’s 67 kg
Yet another gold for China, but this one was a slobberknocker. Lijun Chen put up a 332 kg total to squeak out a one kilo win over the red-hot Luis Mosquera from Colombia. Mosquera has been quite the sensation in recent years with his freaky speed and insane performances at various Pan Am meets, and it was almost his big moment here. He needed to have the day of his life, and China needed to make a mistake. Unfortunately, he learned one of the fundamental rules in weightlifting: China doesn’t make mistakes. Mirko Zanni from the resurgent Italian team took bronze.
Women’s 55 kg
This class provided one of the finest moments of the Tokyo Olympics when Hidilyn Diaz, competing in her fourth Olympic Games, won the gold medal on her last clean and jerk, defeating China and giving the Philippines its first Olympic gold medal in history. Hidilyn’s story could be made into a movie, all the way down to her training with a broomstick and milk jugs during the pandemic. I heard she got $660,000 and two houses from the Filipino government for her win. I hope it’s true, because she deserves every nickel of it. Kazakhstan’s Zulfiya Chinshanlo, fresh off a long doping suspension, took bronze.
Women’s 59 kg
One of the easiest victories in the Olympics came in this class, when Chinese Taipei’s longtime star Kuo Hsing-Chun totaled 236 kg for the gold, which was 19 kg ahead of silver medalist Polina Guryeva from Turkmenistan. Mikiko Ando got host country Japan on the podium with her bronze medal. Kuo is a real fan favorite in weightlifting, and her big day finally arrived in Tokyo. I’ve liked her ever since she won $61,000 from her government for winning the 2017 Summer Universiade and she donated all of it to the impoverished community she came from.
Women’s 64 kg
I’ve always said that if it can’t be a US lifter on the top of the podium, I hope it’s a Canadian. Our wiseass brothers and sisters from the north have to fight for their podium positions at the international level, just like the US does, and that’s why I was pleased as punch to see Maude Charron bring home the gold in this class with a 236 kg total. Italian Giorgia Bordignon scored silver with a tremendous day that she was ecstatic about, and Chen from Taipei took bronze. Many weightlifting fans were disappointed that Romania’s Loredana Toma didn’t get to compete in this class, but her country’s repeated doping violations kept her home.
Men’s 73 kg
Another gold for China, and a second Olympic victory for Shi Zhiyong, who dominated the class with a stunning 364 kg total. Shi was 18 kg ahead of silver medalist Julio Mayora from Venezuela and Rahmat Abdullah from Indonesia. The Chinese freight train just keeps rolling.
US superstar CJ Cummings was probably the most anticipated American lifter of the Tokyo Games, but he had a tough day. His 325 kg total was 22 kg below his American record, and he placed 9th. Most people expected him to compete for a medal, but it wasn’t his moment YET. As with Jourdan, we’ll all get behind CJ and look forward to an outstanding comeback next time.
Men’s 81 kg class
Somebody asked me right after this if I thought it would be Lu Xiaojun’s last Olympics. Yeah, I think it will be. This was his third Olympics and he’s 37 years old, which is ancient by elite weightlifting standards and BEYOND ancient for Chinese-level training. He pulled out another win here with a stellar 374 kg total, easily outdistancing Dominican Bonnat and Italian Pizzolato, who rounded out the podium. If he sails off into the sunset, he’ll always be one of the greats.
And US fans finally got the action they wanted when 21-year-old Harrison Maurus placed 4th in this class with an outstanding 361 kg total and a very close attempt at an Olympic record 205 kg C&J, which would have given him the bronze medal. Competing in his first Olympics, Harrison looked like an old pro out there, giving the US its highest men’s finish at the Olympics since Mario Martinez in 1988.
Men’s 96 kg
Egyptian-born Meso Hassona pulled out a stroke of luck with his Olympic appearance. His home country (Egypt) was suspended from the Olympics because of doping violations, so Meso lifted for Qatar in this Games under the name Fares Ibrahim Elbakh, winning the gold easily with a huge 402 kg total. I don’t know the political moves involved in this whole situation, but I’m sure they were squeaky clean…
Vallenilla of Venezuela and Plyesnoy of Georgia rounded out silver and bronze, and they needed everything they could muster to fight off the charge of Canadian Boady Santavy, who had a ferocious performance and finished in 4th place by 1 kg. Terrific day for Boady, who’s the son of former Canadian great Dallas Santavy.
Women’s 76 kg
American fans were chomping at the bit to watch world champion Kate Nye compete, and we weren’t disappointed. Kate crushed a 249 kg total for silver, with the only blemish on her day being a 114 kg 3rd attempt snatch that was turned down (rightly) by the jury because she accidentally dropped the bar illegally after completing the lift. A minor infraction in an otherwise marvelous day, putting Kate on the podium behind Ecuador’s Neisi Dajomes, who had an earth-shaking meet that led to a whopping 263 kg total. Mexico’s Aremi Fuentes took the bronze.
Women’s 87 kg
China, as you’ve seen, usually wins the classes they enter. This one was no exception, as Wang Zhouyu took the gold with a 270 kg total, outdistancing silver medalist Salazar from Ecuador and Dominican Santana, who took bronze.
US superstar Mattie Rogers was hoping to contend for a medal in Tokyo, but her valiant effort wasn’t quite enough to hit the podium. Her 246 total placed her sixth in a tough class, and she actually missed her first two clean and jerks before gutting out a good third attempt to save the day. Mattie has been around for a while, but she’s still young and we hope to see her on the Olympic stage again.
Women’s 87+ kg
Different Chinese lifter, same result. Gold for Li Wenwen with a 320 kg total, 37 kg ahead of Britain’s Emily Campbell and guess who? American Sarah Robles, who pulled out her second Olympic medal with her bronze in Tokyo, producing another fine total of 282 kg. The expected controversy over transgender athlete Laurel Hubbard of New Zealand never materialized, as Hubbard missed all three snatches.
Men’s 109 kg
Armenia’s Simon Martirosyan was the clear favorite in this class. Everybody expected him to win, but he didn’t. Uzbekistan’s Akbar Djuraev did, with a big 430 kg total. Martirosyan tried the C&J he needed for victory, but it wasn’t there. Latvia’s longtime veteran Arturs Plesnieks finally reached the Olympic podium with the bronze medal.
American Wes Kitts hit a remarkable 177 kg American record snatch and a solid 213 kg C&J for a 390 kg total and 8th place. Wes earned his Olympic spot through an amazing amount of hard work and competitive results, and we hope to see him back on the platform again in 2024. A 400+ total isn’t out of range for this stud athlete.
Men’s 109+ kg
Olympic weightlifting these days could be re-named The Lasha Talakhadze Show. It’s reached a point where we all just sit back and wonder HOW MUCH he’s going to break the world records by. His performance here was his best ever, the best ever in the superheavyweight class, and one of the most phenomenal demonstrations of strength and technique you’ll ever see in any sport. 488 kg. Holy balls. To answer your question: yes, he could total 500 kg any time he wants to.
Davoudi from Iran and Assad from Syria were second and third, and US veteran Caine Wilkes produced a solid 390 kg total for 9th place. Caine has been our top US super for over a decade and he’s literally the nicest guy in American weightlifting, so it was a pleasure to see him add the Olympic Games to his amazing list of accomplishments.
That’s all, folks!
It was a superb Olympics for weightlifting. Excitement, upsets, records, tears of joy, huge numbers…everything you could ask for. I’ve heard some people over the years say things like, “Who cares if we get kicked out of the Olympics?! Screw the Olympics!”
Wrong, wrong, wrong. You can say all you want about the Olympics, with the politics and the corruption and the greed and all the other negatives you want to come up with. But at the end of the day, there’s still nothing like it. It’s the most special, magical, holy territory an athlete can reach, and it would be godawful if weightlifting gets kicked out.
I hope it doesn’t happen, because we’ll never get to have the kind of thrills we saw in Tokyo again. Let’s all keep our fingers crossed that we get to see many more.
|
Matt Foreman is the football and track & field coach at Mountain View High School in Phoenix, AZ. A competitive weightliter for twenty years, Foreman is a four-time National Championship bronze medalist, two-time American Open silver medalist, three-time American Open bronze medalist, two-time National Collegiate Champion, 2004 US Olympic Trials competitor, 2000 World University Championship Team USA competitor, and Arizona and Washington state record-holder. He was also First Team All-Region high school football player, lettered in high school wrestling and track, a high school national powerlifting champion, and a Scottish Highland Games competitor. Foreman has coached multiple regional, state, and national champions in track & field, powerlifting, and weightlifting, and was an assistant coach on 5A Arizona state runner-up football and track teams. He is the author of Bones of Iron: Collected Articles on the Life of the Strength Athlete. |
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