China poised to take weightlifting prowess to new heights
Weightlifting powerhouse China is set to extend its dominance in Rio de Janeiro after topping the discipline’s medal standings at every Olympics since the 2000 Sydney Games.
After cruising to five golds in London four years ago, China will land in Brazil with a full contingent of 10 lifters — all but three have won Olympic or world championship titles — highlighting the nation’s depth in multiple weight classes.
“In China they have an impressive number of good lifters, so even internally the competition is very tough,” said Lilla Rozgonyi of the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF), the sport’s governing body.
China is the only country with a full team, partly because quotas were removed from some nations over doping violations, which cast a cloudoverthesportintherunup to Rio.
Athletes from Azerbaijan and Bulgaria have been banned from the Games because of violations.
Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia are also subject to suspension under IWF rules but their cases remain open with the International Olympic Committee, Rozgonyi said.
John Paul Nicoletta, a writer for OLIFT Magazine, said the weightlifting world had hoped the men’s 105 kg division would yield a rematch from the 2014 world championships, where Kazakhstan’s Ilya Ilyin, Uzbekistan’s Ruslan Nurudinov and Russia’s David Bedzhanyan smashed multiple world records.
But Ilyin is out of the Games following positive doping retestsfromthe2008and2012 Olympics, while the situation for Russian athletes is uncertain in the wake of the country’s doping scandal.
That means the divisions to watch will be the men’s 77 kg, where China’s Lu Xiaojun will aim for his second straight Olympic gold, and the men’s 85 kg, in which Iran’s Kianoush Rostami and China’s Tian Tao will likely test world records.
Elsewhere, DPR Korea’s Om Yun-chol will look to extend his impressive run in the men’s 56 kg, having taken gold in London and at the 20132015 world championships, while Iran’s Behdad Salimi will seek to defend his title as strongest man, in the +105 kg.
China has also been a formidable force since women’s weightlifting debuted at the Olympics in 2000, accounting for at least half of the country’s golds each time.
Deng Wei in the 63 kg class and Xiang Yanmei in the 69 kg division will be making their Olympic debuts after both won gold at last year’s world championships and should be favorites in Rio.