2024 Olympic Games, Day 1 Recap – Women’s 49 kg: Chinese Hou Zhihui’s Triumph on C&J Session with an Olympic Record Under Her Belt

The Paris stage has already seen the very first performance of the Men’s 61 kg category. But, Day 1 of the Olympic Games is not over and there’s one more weight division to spectate. It was expected to be thrilling as the first Women’s category was competing today.

Women’s 49-kg division brought us another vivid and spectacular lifting show from 12 weightlifters who were ready to compete with the highest standards set by their rivals. 

Keep your eyes on this promising battle where every contender aims to up the podium and make their country triumph at the Olympics history. 

Read the full report about each day of the Weightlifting at 2024 Olympics prepared by our media team. Don’t miss the opportunity to stay updated and follow this great event in the Olympic weightlifting world with us from the very beginning till the end!

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Athletes’ presentation

Twelve committed and motivated weightlifters were listed in the start list of this weight category. Five big names came to our attention due to their immense experience in competing in events of different levels and their bright performances at the qualifying competitions.

HOU Zhihui

She is considered to be the best-ranked Asian female athlete among the top five female lifters. She’s an Olympic Champion in 2020, a four-time medalist at the World Championships, and a three-time medalist at the Asian Champs. At the Olympics in Tokyo, she set three new Olympic records in Snatch, Clean & Jerk, and Total.

Mihaela Valentina Cambei

A Romanian weightlifter, a two-time gold medalist at the 2023 and 2024 European Championships. She’s also a multiple medalist at the Youth and Junior Championships, with a bronze at the 2018 Youth Olympics.

MIRABAI Chanu Saikhom 

The second Indian woman who brought the Olympic medal to her country; an Olympic silver medalist, a world champion, and a three-time Commonwealth Games gold-medalist. 

KHAMBAO Surodchana

She won the gold medal in the women’s 49 kg event at the 2021 World Weightlifting Championships. Having debuted in 2017 at the Asian Championships, she finished fourth, then she participated in the Asian Games in 2018 by winning bronze, while at the Junior World Weightlifting Champs, she got the gold medal. She’s a first-time Olympian who is ranked third on the Olympic list.

DELACRUZ Jourdan Elizabeth

Being naturally gifted at weightlifting, she debuted at the 2018 World Championships, winning two bronze and qualifying for the Paris Olympic Games. She took two bronze medals at the 2023 World Championships in Riyadh; she’s a three-time Pan American champion, and she also holds the American record of 200kg in total in the 49-kg weight class.

TThe category’s athletes ordered an opening total of between 191 kg and 217 kg, so these athletes will hit the podium by striving to show their best performances in their careers.

Snatch

The performance in the Snatch exercise started from 56 kg. One athlete, namely Belgian Nina Sterckx bombed out today failing to lift 86 kg. Five lifters (that is almost half of the contenders in the category) had double red lights. 

So, here are the names of weightlifters who managed to get to the Top 6:

• 6: Piron Candelario B. – 85 kg
• 5: Fang Wan-Ling – 86 kg
• 4: Saikhom Mirabai Chanu – 88 kg

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Top 3 leaders’ results

Now let’s analyze the Top 3 lifters’ performance:

• 3: Khambao Surodchana – 88 kg
• 2: Hou Zhihui  – 89 kg
• 1: Cambei Mihaela  – 93 kg

Khambao Surodchana from Thailand ended this session by lifting 86 kg on the first lift, the second – 88 kg, which resulted in no lift, and the last of the same 88 kg brought the green light. Today she did her best lift improving her result by one kilo, compared to her performance at the World Championships in Riyadh.

The second place went to Hou Zhihui from China. She made the first attempt at 89 kg but failed to lift it. She repeated her attempt of 89 kg on the second try with success, and finished with a 93 kg attempt that was a red light. Unfortunately, this time she didn’t improve her previous Olympic Record in the Snatch.

The first place went to Cambei Mihaela from Romania who snatched 89 kg at the first attempt, 91 kg at the second, and resulted in 93 kg, with all her attempts were successful. Today she improved her result in Snatch by one kilo.

Snatch results:

Summarizing the Snatch session, we can admit that it was an insane fight. The category’s leaders met the expectations of the audience by showing good lifts. Mihaela Cambei was in perfect condition, making the 3/3 successful Snatch lifts. While the Chinese lifter Hou Zhihui managed to clinch the second spotdue to a 4-kilo jump after her first failed attempt.

What about the other athletes, many placed bets on the American lifter Jourdan Delacruz who failed to perform her second and third lifts, stopping on 84 kg. Japanese Rira Suzuki also had red lights on her second and third lifts, resulting in 83 kg. A Belgian weightlifter Nina Sterckx bombed out today completely as she couldn’t cope with an 86 kg lift.

Clean & Jerk

The contest in the Clean & Jerk movement started with a weight of 74 kg. This incredible session brought us the following Top-6 list:

6: Suzuki Rira -108 kg
5: Delacruz Jourdan – 111 kg
4: Saikhom Mirabai Chanu  – 111 kg

Top 3 leaders’ results

Let’s describe the performance of the Top 3 lifters:

• 3: Cambei Mihaela  – 112 kg
• 2: Khambao Surodchana – 112 kg
• 1: Hou Zhihui  – 117 kg

Mihaela Cambei secured third place by jerking 106 kg on the first attempt, then she lifted 110 kg successfully. The final attempt was 112 kg she lifted easily. So, she got 3/3 in C&J and 6/6 attempts in total.

The second place in this battle became Surodchana Khambao. Today she started her performance with 110 kg, then ordered 2 kilos more – 112 kg with success, and finalized with an attempt of 114 kg which was a red light.

Chinese Hou Zhihui became a frontrunner of the 49-kg weight division. She started well from 110 kg, then failed to lift 117 kg on the second try. But, accumulating all her strength and persistence she made a great jump repeating her second lift of 117 kg, which brought her a gold medal and set a new Olympic record.

Clean & Jerk results:

This round was also tense as usual and full of impressive moments. But, the session’s star became Hou Zhihui who reanimated herself after the second hard jerk and made an incredible 117-kg lift, which brought China the second Olympic record for today. She succeeded in improving her prior Olympic record at the Olympic Games in Tokyo by one kilo.

Total results

• 🥇Hou Zhihui – 206 kg
• 🥈Cambei Mihaela – 205 kg
• 🥉 Khambao Surodchana – 200 kg
• 4 Saikhom Mirabai Chanu – 199 kg
• 5 Delacruz Jourdan – 195 kg
• 6 Fang Wan-Ling – 193 kg

The gold medalist in the category was Chinese Hou Zhihui who did 206 kg overall.

The silver medalist was Cambei Mihaela from Romania who resulted with 205 kg, just one kilo behind the winner. One of the best performances for her so far. 

Khambao Sorodchana from Thailand took bronze thanks to her total of 200 kg.

Final thoughts

Today’s performance in the 49-kg weight category showed impressive competition between lightweight female lifters who put great effort into performing today in Paris. Although we got assured once again that the Chinese weightlifting school and training discipline brings its fruits – the Chinese lifter Zhihui brought the second gold medal to her country in weightlifting.

What’s more, she set an Olympic record in Clean & Jerk. Mihaela Cambei showed her perfect form making all six lifts confidently, resulting in silver.

Follow our media channels to watch the next attention-grabbing performances at the Olympic Games. Track the news of each competition day on our channels and website. Stay strong and remember – warm body cold mind!