AWF Announces Athletes’ Names from China Who Will Go to 2024 Paris Olympics 

The last qualification event, the IWF World Cup in Phuket was decisive for getting the quotas for the Paris 2024 Olympics. For Chinese athletes it was a vital test because they were competing against each other to gain a spot to Paris.

According to theication system each country can apply just one athlete per weight category, and three per gender across all weight divisions, which was down from four each compared with the Tokyo 2020.

Today, 10th of May 2024, the Asian Weightlifting Federation announced the list of weightlifters who will represent China at the Olympic Games in Paris this year. Three male and three female athletes are ready for Paris 2024:

Men’s categories

Li Fabin (61 kg)

Li Fabin, the Tokyo Olympic gold medalist, broke his own world record in Snatch with 146 kg before adding 166 kg in Clean & Jerk, with a total of 312 kg in the Men’s 61 kg category.

This result brought Li his second gold medal and vouched for the position at the top of the Olympic Qualification Ranking (OQR).

Shi Zhiyong (73 kg) 

Despite the scenario posits that Shi Zhiyong could miss the opportunity to go to Paris if China decides against fielding a contestant in his weight category, despite his status as an Olympic qualifier. Although, Shi managed to rank second at the OQR with a total of 356 kg falling behind his rival from Indonesia by 9 kilos.

Let us remind you that at the World Cup in Phuket, Indonesian Rizki Juniansyah set a new world record in the men’s 73-kg category at 365 kg, surpassing Shi’s prior record of 364 kg he broke at the Tokyo Olympics. 

Liu Huanhua (102 kg)

At the prior World Cup in Thailand, he broke two world records and became the leader in the Olympic rankings with his final lift. He resulted with the following results of 181 kg in Snatch, 232 kg in Clean & Jerk, and 413 kg in totals, claiming world records in the second event and a total weight. This record was set for the first time since 2018.

So, this result gave him the biggest lead over his opponents in all five men’s categories for Paris 2024, and enabled him to cement the spit at the top of the Olympic Qualification Rankings.

Women’s categories

Hou Zhihui (49 kg)

Considering the 2024 World Cup stats, the Tokyo Olympic gold medalist succeeded to set a Snatch world record, as she renewed her quota for the Olympic appearance. Hou snatched 97 kg on the second attempt, breaking the world record. 

Luo Shifang (59 kg)

Luo claimed her first world record in the women’s 59 kg category. The head coach of the women’s Chinese team said that the 59-kg weight division is a category in which Chinese athletes have dominated for many years. She managed to overcome the prior world record of 247 kg held by Taiwanese Kuo Hsing-Chun.

Li Wenwen (81+ kg)

After injury, Li Wenwen made a solid comeback bagging total gold in Snatch, Clean & Jerk, and total. Considering the fact that she missed the 2023 Asian Games, Grand Prix in Qatar, and the Asians in Tashkent because of the injury she got in the Worlds in Riyadh, this time Li showed great results: 145-180-325.

Overall, the performance of China’s team at the World Cup supposes a challenging competition in Paris if they want to repeat their Tokyo triumph – seven gold and one silver medal across eight weight categories.