Flyweight (≤52 kilograms), Men

The reigning World Champion, Neno Terziyski of Bulgaria, was not competing due to the Soviet-led boycott. He would win the Friendship Games competition, held a week after the Olympics, with a total weight of 252.5 kg, which would have easily won him the Olympic gold. Of the active competitors, only Kazushito Manabe had medalled before internationally, having claimed bronze at the 1981 World Championships. At the 1983 Moscow Worlds, he had been 5th.

In competition, Manabe would be challenged by two Chinese lifters, the first to compete since the 1936 Berlin Games. Zhou Peishun had been 7th in the Moscow World Championships, but he was challenged by his 19-year-old countryman, Zeng Guoqiang. While trailing Zhou after the snatch, Zeng made up the difference in the clean & jerk. As both Chinese lifters were tied, the winner was Zeng, who had weighed in at 51.70 kg, 0.1 kg less than Zhou.

Fourth place finisher Mahmoud Tarha of Lebanon was later disqualified after it was found he had used the forbidden substance nandrolone.