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2024 Olympic Games
Weightlifting
Paris Expo Porte de Versailles
Paris, France
27 July - 11 August 2024
Weightlifting has become a staple at the
Olympic Games as one of the original events in the modern era and is another sport dominated by China in recent years.
First contested at Athens 1896, weightlifting was left off the roster in 1900, 1908 and 1912, but has appeared at every edition of the Games since then.
Denmark and Great Britain shared the mantle in 1896 and there were a further four different winners over the next 24 years before France triumphed again in 1932.
United States and then the former Soviet Union enjoyed prolonged success after the second world war, with the latter topping the medal table to this day after scooping 62 medals (39 gold, 21 silver, 2 bronze).
But China have emerged as the dominant force since 2000 and are one gold medal away from equalling that record tally, having already won 62 medals themselves.
Li Fabin (61kg), Chen Lijun (67kg) and Lu Xiaojun (81kg) all set new Olympic records in their respective weight classes for the men at Tokyo 2020, while Shi Zhiyong (73kg) broke the world record.
Hou Zhihui (49kg) and Li Wenwen (87+kg) also set new Olympic records for the women as part of a seven gold medal haul for China three years ago.
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Shi is looking to challenge himself in Paris again after overcoming his recent injury problems that affected his regular training sessions.
"I'm so happy that I can maintain systematic training every day now," he told China Media Group (CMG). "I may not lift too much sometimes, but I can do it on daily basis.
"I make a little progress every day and then I grow better in the end. But first, I must keep systematic training sessions."
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