On the second day of weightlifting at the 2024 Olympics, stadium attendees witnessed something truly rare in competitive Olympic lifting. On Aug. 8, multiple women weightlifters broke the existing Olympic records in spectacular fashion.
In total, four Olympic snatch records, one clean & jerk, and one Total record were hit as multiple athletes battled for positions on the Paris podium.
[Catch Up: 2024 Olympics Weightlifting Results]
How It Happened
Prior to Paris, the existing 59-kilogram Olympic records were all held by three-time Olympian (2012, 2016, 2020) Kuo Hsing-Chun of Chinese Taipei.
Hsing-Chun was among the contenders in Paris and snuck in a 105-kilogram lift, but was not the first athlete to succeed at the weight, so it wasn’t a record.
- Snatch: 103 kilograms
- Clean & Jerk: 133 kilograms
- Total: 236 kilograms
However, a new Olympic event meant new chances for athletes to ink themselves into the record books … and ink they did. Here’s how it went down:
Snatch
Athlete Kamila Konotop surpassed Hsing-Chun’s existing 103 kilogram snatch Olympic record, but was overtaken by China’s Luo Shifang and couldn’t win it back due to suffering an apparent hamstring injury.
Maude Charron of Canada, Olympic Champion at 64 kilograms, took the record from Shifang at 106, but Shifang on her final attempt claimed it back, cementing her name into the record books:
While these records were temporarily set during the 59-kilogram event, only Shifang’s result will be validated. Records must remain unbroken for a period of 24 hours or more before being truly legitimized.
Clean & Jerk
In the second half of the event, Shifang was the first to exceed Hsing-Chun’s existing record by clean & jerking 134 kilograms; a one-kilo margin.
Anyelin Venegas of Venezuela and Hsing-Chun both tried 134 kilos or more, but neither could make it happen. Shifang declared 137 for her very last attempt, but opted to wave to the crowd on stage instead of lifting.
Total
The weightlifting Total combines an athlete’s best snatch and clean & jerk — at the Olympic Games, athletes are awarded medals only by their combined Total. Shifang claimed the Olympic record in the total, 241 kilograms, in the process of winning the gold medal.
[Related: Is Mihaela Cambei Weightlifting’s Next Superstar?]
2024 Olympics Women’s 59KG Weightlifting Results
In addition to a flurry of new records, the Paris podium was adorned by a new combination of athletes and nations. Here are your winners from the Women’s 59-kilogram event:
- Gold: Luo Shifang (CHN) — 241 (107/134)
- Silver: Maude Charron (CAN) — 236 (106/130)
- Bronze: Kuo Hsing-Chun (TPE) — 235 (105/130)
Paris marks the first Olympic medal for Shifang, the second for Charron (2020), and the third for Hsing-Chun (2016, 2020).
More Weightlifting at the 2024 Olympics
- For Some Olympians, Getting a Medal Through TSA Is the Hardest Part
- These Are the Olympic Records in Weightlifting (for Now)
- Why Some Countries Struggle To Send Weightlifters to the Olympic Games
Featured Image: Weightlifting House / @weightlifting_house
