This month, the topic of weightlifting, boxing and modern pentathlon, three traditional events, not being included in the initial list for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, has attracted much attention, and although the International Olympic Committee has said that the three events will be re-added to the list as long as the rectification is completed in time, for weightlifting, the adjustment will begin from the Paris Olympics.
Recently, the International Lifting Federation held a conference in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, according to the participants, the conference passed the competition level of the weightlifting event of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, and this level adjustment will have a great impact on the Chinese weightlifting team that has just won 7 gold and 1 silver at the Tokyo Olympics. Due to the previous decision of the International Olympic Committee to adjust the weightlifting events in the Paris Olympic Games from 14 to 10, the reduction in the number of projects also forced the International Lifting Federation to make this level adjustment, according to the International Lifting Federation Executive Committee, the President of the Russian Weightlifting Association Agapitov revealed that the ten weightlifting levels of the Paris Olympic Games determined by the International Lifting Federation were men's 61 kg, 73 kg, 89 kg, 102 kg and 102 kg or more, women's 49 kg, 59 kg, 71 kg, 81 kg and over 81 kg. Compared with the 14 levels of the Tokyo Olympic Games, the level adjustment of the International Lifting Federation is quite large, which undoubtedly means a huge change in the overall preparation strategy and even the selection of personnel for the Chinese weightlifting team, which has a group advantage in the weightlifting event.
According to the current disclosure of the Paris Olympic Games, only three of the eight Olympians of the Chinese weightlifting team have not changed, namely Hou Zhihui in the women's 49 kg class, Li Fabin in the men's 61 kg class and Shi Zhiyong in the men's 73 kg class, and the level of the remaining five team members has changed to some extent. In the men's side, the 67 kg and 81 kg events in which Chen Lijun and Lü Xiaojun, the two Olympic champions, participated were both cancelled, and due to the proximity of the 61 kg and 73 kg classes, the Chinese team originally had two Olympic champions with absolute dominance, Li Fabin and Shi Zhiyong, so it was also very difficult for these two levels of athletes to compete in the new level by gaining or losing weight. Of course, for the two veterans of Chen Lijun and Lu Xiaojun, there is doubt about whether they will continue to compete in the Paris Olympic Games.
The greater impact of this level adjustment is probably the rising stars in the two levels in China. In addition to the impact on individual athletes, the impact of this level adjustment on the platoon deployment of the Chinese weightlifting team may be more obvious, because the men's big class has never been the strength of the Chinese team, and the Chinese weightlifting team usually focuses on the small and medium levels in the men's event. Among the 4 male team members participating in the Tokyo Olympics, the highest level is 81 kg Lv Xiaojun, but from the perspective of the Paris Olympics, under the current rule that each team can only send one person to participate in one level, if the Chinese weightlifting team still wants to maintain a full seat for the men's 4 people, it needs to develop at least two events in the three levels of 89 kg, 102 kg and 102 kg, if it still wants to maintain enough medals and even gold medal competitiveness, it will be more difficult.
Compared with the men's event, although the level adjustment of the women's event will also pose a challenge to the Chinese weightlifting team, the impact may be smaller, mainly due to the group advantage of Chinese women weightlifters. The 87kg at the Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Wang Zhouyu and the 55kg at the silver medalist Liao Qiuyun were cancelled, but they both had room to adjust their classes by gaining or losing weight, and most of the players in both classes could re-compete in the newly created 59kg and 81kg. As for Li Wenwen, who participated in the 87 kg or more class, although the competitors will expand to all the players over 81 kg, it should have little impact on Li Wenwen. Overall, for the Chinese weightlifting team with the advantages of the group, the level adjustment of the Paris Olympics is a challenge, but the bigger challenge is actually the survival crisis of the weightlifting project.