Electrician-turned-Olympic-Champion Solfrid Koanda made history for Norway at Paris 2024. Koanda, 25, won her country’s first women’s weightlifting gold medal in the 81-kilogram category only a few years into the sport.
- “Back to basics…” Koanda wrote, describing her return to the barbell after several weeks away.
Let’s take a look at how one of the world’s best weightlifters gets back in shape after battling it out in Paris.
Solfrid Koanda’s First Weightlifting Workout
Koanda let fans take a peek behind her curtain in an Aug. 24, 2024 Instagram Reel. Working alone in her gym with an empty barbell, Koanda ran through a series of basic weightlifting drills:
- Power snatch from thigh
- Power snatch from knee
- Power snatch from floor
These three movements are often coupled together into what’s called a “three-position” snatch. This weightlifting complex gradually adds range of motion to the pulling phase and is a great foundational drill for beginners to reinforce good habits.
- Standing muscle snatch
- Snatch balance
- Overhead squat
This trio helps Koanda dial in two crucial aspects of the snatch; arm activation and timing. Muscle snatches and snatch balances help with a swift and forceful lockout, while the overhead squat is a must-do for any successful snatch.
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- “I only used the bar today,” Koanda wrote on social media. “I always go back to basics like a new beginner before [starting] a new training block.”
Afterward, Koanda noted that on the following day she would practice the front squat, snatch pull, and some jerk variations — two of these three movements are building blocks of weightlifting’s other competitive discipline, the clean & jerk.
- “I use extra good time for warm-up, I work with a stick and do mobility work before touching the bar,” Koanda noted of her preferred warm-up protocol.
Solfrid Koanda: Making History
Koanda burst onto the weightlifting scene when she won a bronze medal at the 2021 World Weightlifting Championships — at the time, it was just her second-ever international competition.
- She competed internationally six more times between late ’21 and the 2024 Olympics in Paris. Koanda placed first at all six weightlifting meets.
Come Paris, Koanda was a podium favorite but entered the South Paris Arena ranked third behind Egypt’s Sara Samir Ahmed and Ecuador’s 2020 Olympic Champion Neisi Dajomes.
Those three women ended up on the Olympic podium, but it was Koanda who took a commanding lead:
Women’s 81KG Podium
- Gold: Solfrid Koanda (NOR) — 275 (121/154) | Olympic Record Clean & Jerk, Total
- Silver: Sara Ahmed (EGY) — 268 (117/151)
- Bronze: Neisi Dajomes (ECU) — 267 (122/145)
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Post-Paris, Koanda celebrated her rapid ascent to the top of her sport, but appears to be taking it all one day at a time.
- “Still trying to regain a healthy balance between body and mind,” she wrote on Aug. 30. “The grind doesn’t get any easier just because I’m an Olympic Champion.”
Many of the ’24 Olympians are taking well-deserved breaks from the weightlifting game. Fans can certainly expect to see Koanda perform in front of a home crowd at the 2025 World Weightlifting Championships in Forde, Norway, next year.
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Featured Image: @_to_thebar / Instagram
