Flyweight (≤49 kg), Women

Traditionally, since 2004, the lightest weight class for women was also contested as the first weightlifting event at the Paris Olympics. As the weight classes changed in 2018, the body weight was now up to 49 kg, as opposed to 48 kg in Rio eight years before.

China’s Hou Zhihui was the defending Olympic champion and favorite to win gold in Paris. She would face stiff competition from her main rival Mirabai Chanu of India, who won silver in Tokyo. Absent, however, was the world record holder Ri Song-Gum (PRK), and the defending world champion Jiang Huihua (CHN), with NOCs only allowed to have one athlete compete in each weight category.

Mihaela Cambei of Romania produced the best lift in the snatch, with 93 kg, to take a narrow lead ahead of Hou and Chanu. Only the Belgian lifter Nina Sterckx was eliminated at this stage after failing to provide a valid attempt. In the clean & jerk, Hou took the lead when she lifted 117 kg, setting an Olympic record in the process. Thai lifter Surodchana Khambao finished second on 112 kg from her second attempt, just ahead of Cambei, who also lifted 112 kg but on her third attempt.

This resulted in Hou winning her second consecutive gold in the flyweight at the Olympics, with Cambei winning silver, and Khambao winning bronze. Chanu missed out on the podium when she came fourth, finishing just one kilogram behind Khambao.