In 2021, China sent eight weightlifters to compete at the Tokyo Olympics. They returned with seven gold medals and one silver. With less than 100 days to go until the commencement of the 2024 Olympics, the world has waited anxiously for the most dominant country in weightlifting’s modern history to reveal which of their athletes are packing their bags for Paris.
On Friday, May 10, 2024, the Chinese Weightlifting Association (CWA) publicized a press release that reportedly details the six Chinese weightlifters who have been selected to compete at this year’s Olympics.
According to CWA-associated photojournalist Yilin Yang‘s translation of the release, Team China has opted to send the following three men and three women to compete in weightlifting in Paris:
Team China | 2024 Olympics Weightlifting Roster
- Li Fabin | Men’s 61KG
- Shi Zhiyong | Men’s 73KG
- Liu Huanhua | Men’s 102KG
- Hou Zhihui | Women’s 49KG
- Luo Shifang | Women’s 59KG
- Li Wenwen | Women’s +81KG
Li Fabin (61KG)
China has historically dominated the lighter divisions within weightlifting. On the men’s side, their seat of power rests with 61-kilogram Fabin, who has competed 12 times internationally in the last five years — he won 11 of those events (he placed second at a “test event” for the Tokyo Olympics in 2019).
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As of spring 2024, Fabin sits comfortably atop the International Weightlifting Federation’s (IWF) ranking leaderboards in the Men’s lightweight division with a 314-kilogram Total. Fabin faced a last-minute challenge from teammate and five-time World Champion Chen Lijun at the 2024 IWF World Cup, but Lijun couldn’t make it happen. Fabin cruised comfortably into China’s Paris roster and is a safe bet for the gold medal this summer.
Shi Zhiyong (73KG)
After winning a gold medal in Tokyo three years ago, China’s powerhouse middleweight Zhiyong took a multi-year hiatus from international sport — but weightlifting kept on chugging, as did the Paris 2024 qualification period.
As the clock ticked down, Zhiyong quietly did his part to validate a ticket to Paris by attending major weightlifting events but not actually lifting a barbell. He eventually donned his weightlifting shoes once more at the 2023 IWF Grand Prix II in December of last year, where he had his first international defeat ever to Latvia’s Ritvars Suharevs (Zhiyong placed second).
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Zhiyong had reportedly been suffering from, and slowly rehabilitating, a back injury. He returned to the platform once more at the 2024 IWF World Cup. Zhiyong clinched a 356-kilogram Total there, enough to rank second in the world behind Indonesia’s Rizki Juniansyah, despite not being in top form. If Zhiyong can heal up and train hard in the next three months, a third Olympic gold medal (2016, 2020) is within his grasp.
Liu Huanhua (102KG)
China has historically struggled to excel in weightlifting’s heavier divisions, at least to the same level they display in the lighter categories. In the last three decades, China has failed to plant their flag on the podium in the Men’s heavyweight or super-heavyweight categories at any Olympic Games (China won four straight golds in the first four divisions of Men’s weightlifting in Tokyo, opting not to send any of their heavier athletes).
That streak is likely to change in Paris thanks to China’s new 102-kilogram powerhouse Liu Huanhua. Affectionately nicknamed “Gigachad” for his bulked-up physique and run-the-room demeanor, Huanhua burst onto the international scene at the 2022 IWF World Weightlifting Championships.
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Since then, he’s moved up two weight classes from 89 to 102, made it to the podium at all six of his international appearances, and claimed two out of three inaugural world records in the Men’s 102-kilogram category.
Gigachad is in the driver’s seat ahead of Paris, but winning the gold medal isn’t assured. Huanhua must face off against a pair of 2020 Olympic Champions who have also changed weight classes and converged on the 102s: Uzbekistan’s Akbar Djuraev and Qatari Meso Hassona.
Hou Zhihui (49KG)
China has had international Women’s weightlifting in a stranglehold for the last decade. Up to 2023, Team China owned a vast majority of all Women’s weightlifting world records — until North Korea made an unexpected return to the sport in 2023, snatching many of those records out of China’s hands.
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North Korea won’t be at the 2024 Olympics, but Chinese weightlifter and world-number-one Hou Zhihui will. Zhihui is heading to Paris looking to repeat her gold-medal performance from Tokyo in the same division, after very narrowly besting teammate and four-time World Champion Jiang Huihua at the final international qualifying event before Paris.
Luo Shifang (59KG)
The Women’s 59-kilogram category has seen the tightest competition of any female division of weightlifting throughout the qualifying period for Paris. The 59-kilogram women have regularly finished within two or three kilos of each other at various competitions, save for a few exceptions including China’s Paris pick and Total world record holder, Luo Shifang.
Shifang is new blood for Team China. After two international appearances in 2017 as a Youth athlete, she wasn’t seen again on an IWF stage until Worlds in 2022. She placed fourth there; respectable, but not extraordinary.
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Since then, Shifang has found her stride. She won four gold medals out of her five subsequent appearances throughput Paris qualification. At the World Cup, she beat the Paris-eligible runner-up and 2020 Olympic Champion Maude Charron of Canada by 12 kilograms. Expect Shifang to soar in Paris.
Li Wenwen (+81KG)
Throughout the qualification procedure, Weightlifting House founder and lead commentator Seb Ostrowicz had questioned whether China’s Li Wenwen is the country’s safest gold-medal pick in Paris across any event in any sport. Ostrowicz is probably correct.
Wenwen has competed in the Women’s super-heavyweight division 10 times in the last five years. She’s won each and every event, and often by a jaw-dropping margin. Wenwen holds all three world records in the Women’s superheavies as well.
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She suffered an elbow injury at the 2023 IWF World Weightlifting Championships last autumn, opting to withdraw rather than blemish her record with a loss. Wenwen (and her elbow) looked healthy when she competed last in the spring of 2024, so it appears that the +81-kilogram gold medal is, indeed, a lock for China.
The Board Sets
Now that China has publicized their selections for Paris, countries all over the world can make their own tactical choices about who they’ll send to compete against the Chinese — and, perhaps more importantly, who they won’t.
Fans of weightlifting can expect to learn the names of all 120 weightlifters heading to Paris by the end of May 2024.
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Featured Image: Jessie Johnson / @barbellstories
