Heavyweight (≤75 kilograms), Women

Doping concerns reduced the field for women’s heavyweight wrestling at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. Russia’s Nadezhda Yevstyukhina, the 2011, 2013, and 2014 World champion, and 2011 and 2013 European champion, was affected not only by the blanket ban on Russian weightlifters, but also lost her 2008 Olympic bronze medal after a retest. Defending Olympic champion Svetlana Podobedova of Kazakhstan, the most recent World bronze medalist, had also tested positive for banned substances and would lose her gold medal a few months later. Meanwhile China’s Kang Yue, the reigning World champion and 2013 and 2014 runner-up, floundered at the National Championships and was not selected for Rio. This left Rim Jong-Sim of North Korea as the favorite: she was the 2012 Olympic champion in the light-heavyweight division, but had taken bronze in 2014 and silver in 2015 at the Worlds in the heavyweight category. The only other recent World Championship medalist was Spain’s Lidia Valentín (bronze in 2013), who was also the 2014 and 2015 European champion and the 2013 runner-up. Valentín was a two-time Olympic veteran who finished fifth in 2008 and fourth in 2012, but was bumped up to the silver and gold medal positions respectively following a series of doping-related disqualifications. The reigning European champion was Iryna Dekha of Ukraine, while France’s Gaëlle Nayo-Ketchanke was the 2015 and 2016 runner-up.

Rim took a significant lead in the snatch portion with a lift of 121 kg. Trailing behind were Valentín and Belarus’ Darya Naumava at 116 kg and Dekha at 114 kg. In her first attempt at the clean and jerk, Rim lifted 145 kg, which was not only 9 more than anyone else in the opening round, but 3 more than any other competitor would lift in the entire competition. She secured her gold medal by lifting 153 kg in her next attempt and used her final lift to try and improve on the Olympic record, but failed. Valentín and Naumava, meanwhile, battled for silver, with the Belarusian coming out on top by 1 kg each round. Dekha, the only other competitor reasonably in contention for a podium spot, struggled in the clean and jerk and placed fifth overall, giving Valentín the bronze.