Flyweight (≤48 kilograms), Women

China had not lost an Olympic Games or World Championship in the women’s flyweight division since 2010 and held the records for total lift at both levels. Its entrant Hou Zhihui, however, was injured and unable to compete at the 2016 Games, while Turkey’s Sibel Özkan, the reigning European champion over the past two years, failed to appear in Rio after having her 2008 Olympic silver medal revoked for failing a doping test. Moreover, Genny Pagliaro of Italy, the 2013 and 2014 European champion, 2016 runner-up, and 2015 bronze medalist, was passed over in favor of younger weightlifters in other divisions for Italy’s weightlifting quota places, leaving the gold medal up for grabs. Vietnam’s Vương Thị Huyền and Japan’s Hiromi Miyake were the reigning World silver and bronze medalists and the only recent World or European medalists in the 48 kg to participate in Rio. Miyake was also the runner-up in 2012 and was taking part in her fourth edition of the Olympics.

In the snatch portion of the event, Vương failed to lift 83 kg in her first attempt, then 84 kg in her next two, and was therefore eliminated from contention. Miyake lifted 81 kg on her final try, but this left her well behind in a pack led by Sopita Tanasan of Thailand, who lifted 92 kg, 7 ahead of her nearest competitors, Sri Wahyuni Agustiani of Indonesia and Beatriz Pirón of the Dominican Republic. Tanasan had been competing in the flyweight for less than year, having previously been a featherweight competitor and a silver medalist in that category at the 2013 World Championships. She went on to win the clean and jerk portion of the event with a 108 kg lift, and her margin of victory in the snatch meant that she faced no serious challengers for the gold medal. Agustiani and Miyake both lifted 107 kg, giving them bronze and silver respectively after Pirón managed only 102 kg. Pirón’s fourth-place finish, however, was still her nation’s best-ever Olympic result in the sport.