Weightlifting At Paris Olympic Games 2024: What To Know And Who To Watch

Here is all you need to know about weightlifting a🐼t the 20🔯24 Paris Olympics, from the athletes to look out for to the important dates and reigning champions

Associated Press

Updated on: 16 July 2024 1:55 pm

Weightlifting at 2024 Paris Olympics. Photo: File

A roadmap to follow during weightlifting competition at the Paris Olympics: (More Sports News)

Weightlifting Athletes to Watch At Paris Olympics:

—Hampton Morris, United States: At 20, the Marietta, Georgia, native will be the youngest American weightlifter to compete at the Olympics since Cheryl Haworth in 2000. Morris broke the clean and jerk 61-kilogram world record by lifting 388 pounds (176 kilogr🔥ams) at a World Cup event in Thailand eꦜarlier this year.

—Lasha Talakhadze, Georgia: Having set 26 world records over the course of his career, the 30-year-old back-to-back Olympic champion in the heaviest weight class is returning to try for 🍷a three-peat. He's back after missing the European championships earlier this year because of a knee injury.

—Maude Charron, Canada: The 64kg gold medalist in Tokyo is again one of the toဣp contenders, now in the 59kg division. The 31-year-old from Quebec is just one of five Canadians — men or women — to win an Olympic medal in the sport.

—Yekta Jamali, Refugee Team: From Iran init𝄹ially, she fled to Germany two years ago because she faced discrimination for being a woman in the sport. A world junior silver medalist, Jamali is not even 19 yet and hopes to win a medal as part of the IOC Refugee Team.

Storylines to Follow:

—Doping troubles have dogged weightlifting, to the point the IOC threatened to remove it from the Olympic program beginning in 2028. It has had a reprieve and ⛦be꧂en confirmed for Los Angeles after leadership changes and attempted reforms, but drug testing will be heavily scrutinized in Paris.

—The last U.S. men's weightlifting medalists were Mario Martinez and Guy Carlton in 1984 and the last to win gold was Paul Anderson in 1956. Hampton Morris stands the best chance of adding a new chapter to that history, tꦆhough defending champion Li Fabin of China isꦍ formidable competition.

—China has another chance to dominate in weightlifting after leading the Tokyo Olympics with𓄧 seven gold medals and eight overall. No other country had m💃ore than one gold.