The sixth weight category to compete at the rescheduled 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games was the Women’s 64-kilogram weight class. Group B competed at 10:50 p.m. on Monday, July 26, 2021. Group A competed at 6:50 a.m. EST on Tuesday, July 27, 2021.
Maude Charron (Canada) came away with the gold, totaling four kilograms above Georgia Bordignon of Italy. Charron, who has been internationally competitive in weightlifting for around five years, is also an accomplished CrossFit® athlete. She competed at CrossFit’s Regional level of competition in 2014, 2015, and 2016, and her highest-ever CrossFit Open finish was 49th worldwide in 2016.
Women’s 64-Kilogram Results
- Maude Charron (Canada) — 236 (105/131) (Gold)
- Georgia Bordignon (Italy) — 232 (104/128) (Silver)
- Chen Wen-Huei (Chinese Taipei) — 230 (103/127) (Bronze)
- Mercedes Isabel Perez Tigrero (Colombia) — 227 (101/126)
- Sarah Davies (Great Britain) — 227 (101/127)
- Angie Paola Palacios Dajomes (Ecuador) — 226 (104/122)
- Elreen Ann Ando (Philippines) — 222 (100/122)
- Marina De La Caridad Rodriguez Mitjan (Cuba) — 221 (98/123)
- Nuray Levent (Turkey) — 220 (100/120)
- Lisa Marie Schweizer (Germany) — 217 (100/117)
- Kiana Elliot (Australia) — 209 (101/108)
- Sema Nancy Ludrick Rivas (Nicaragua) — 202 (87/115)
- Yasmin Zammit Stevens (Malta) — 189 (84/105)
- Chaima Rahmouni (Tunisia) — X (91/X) Did Not Finish
Note: the above stats are structured as — Total (Snatch/Clean & Jerk)
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[Related: The Full 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games Weightlifting Roster]
2020 Tokyo Olympic Games — Women’s 64KG
Here are the fourteen athletes in the Women’s 64-kilogram category who competed in Tokyo:
64-Kilogram Roster
Group A
- Maude Charron — Canada
- Mercedes Isabel Perez Tigrero — Colombia
- Marina De La Caridad Rodriguez Mitjan — Cuba
- Angie Paola Palacios Dajomes — Ecuador
- Sarah Davies — Great Britain
- Lisa Marie Schweizer — Germany
- Giorgia Bordignon — Italy
- Elreen Ann Ando — Philippines
- Chen Wen-Huei — Chinese Taipei
- Nuray Levent — Turkey
Group B
- Yasmin Zammit Stevens — Malta
- Kiana Rose Elliott — Australia
- Chaima Rahmouni — Tunisia
- Sema Nancy Ludrick Rivas — Nicaragua
Heading into the event, none of the medalists from the 63-kilogram or 69-kilogram classes at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games competed in Tokyo (new weightlifting categories were approved by the IWF in 2018).
Prior to the Games, all three world records in the 64-kilogram class were held by Deng Wei of China, who was not present in Tokyo. She hit the clean & jerk and total world records at the 2019 IWF World Championships and the snatch world record at the 2019 IWF World Cup.
64-Kilogram World Records
- Snatch — Deng Wei, 117 kilograms (257.9 pounds)
- Clean & Jerk — Deng Wei, 145 kilograms (319.7 pounds)
- Total — Deng Wei, 261 kilograms (575.4 pounds)
Session Recap
Snatch
Backstage adjustments to opening lifts preceded the first athletes from taking their opening attempts around 95 kilograms, signaling a very tight competition with multiple countries able to claim podium positions.
After a series of fiery openers, nearly every single athlete in the category had either declared or appeared for 100 kilograms, an almost unheard-of occurrence.
Canada’s Charron was the heaviest athlete to open, successfully hitting 102 kilograms. Perez Tigrero of Colombia, having missed her first and third attempts at 101 and 105, cleared the field for Charron and Palacios of Ecuador.
Palacios loaded 108 kilograms, a potential Olympic Record, but lost the lift in front. Charron had the last lift of the snatch segment at the same weight, but missed it as well.
Canada led the field at the closure of the snatch, but every other athlete in the competition barring one was within five kilograms or less of Charron, an uncommonly tight field.
Clean & Jerk
A larger spread in declared openers and early attempts meant medal contenders emerged more clearly around X kilograms, with Perez Tigrero, Davies, Charron, Bordignon of Italy, and Wen-Huei duking it out.
Bordignon dropped to her knees in tears after hitting a 5-kilogram personal record at 128 kilograms, capping off a 6-for-6 day. Wen-Huei was too exhausted to complete her second and third attempts at 130, ending her performance with 127.
Charron completed 131 on her final attempt, also coming to tears after dropping her barbell. Neither the Colombian nor the Brit could manage a lift that would overcome the snatch deficit, securing the gold for Canada.
[Related: New ITA Report Reveals Doping Violations, Corruption, and Cover-Ups in Weightlifting]
The Games Continue
The next two sessions will feature Men’s 73-kilogram and Men’s 81-kilogram categories. The Men’s 73-kilogram class competes on Wednesday, July 28, 2021, with Groups B and A competing at 12:50 a.m EST and 6:50 a.m EST, respectively. Group B and Group A for the Men’s 81-kilogram class competes on Friday, July 30, 2021, at 10:50 p.m. EST and Saturday, July 31, 2021, at 2:50 a.m EST, respectively.
Feature image: Stephen Galvan for IWF