Weightlifting is a sport that showcases incredible strength and determination. Weightlifting, one of the most popular sports in the world, showcases incredible strength and determination.
Female weightlifters, in particular, have made remarkable contributions to the sport, setting records and winning medals on the global stage.
This game is a perfect example of women’s empowerment. This sport has shown that females are also as strong as men.
Weightlifting has always been a category of men, but females broke all the barriers and came into this field.
Female weightlifters made many remarkable records in this sport. If curious to know, here are the 10 top female Olympic weightlifters:
10. Yang Lian
Yang Lian, a talented Chinese female lifter, made history in the 2006 World Weightlifting Championship.
Competing in the 48kg weight class, she not only secured the gold medal but also set the stage for her illustrious weightlifting career.
Yang Lian went on to break numerous world records, cementing her place as one of the best female weightlifters.
9. Hsu Shu-ching
Hsu was taught by her teacher Tsai Wen-yee. She was the winner of the women’s 53 kg at the 2012 London Olympics, winning the gold medal.
Her incredible journey includes winning the gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics and setting a world record in weightlifting with a lift of 233kg at the 2014 Asian Games.
Hsu’s accomplishments continued with another gold medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics in the 53 kg weight category.
Unfortunately, injuries in the 2017 World Weightlifting Championships led her to retire from the women’s Olympic weightlifting competition in June 2018.
8. Chen Yanqing
Chen Yanqing is a Chinese weightlifter who competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics and the 2008 Summer Olympics in the women’s 53 kg weightlifting category.
She won the gold medal at both Olympic Games, becoming the first woman to win Olympic gold medals in the same weightlifting event at two consecutive Summer Olympics.
Chen had hoped to compete at the 2000 Summer Olympics but was not selected by the Chinese Olympic team and was left out before the competition began.
In addition to her Olympic success, Chen Yanqing also won titles at the National Games and the East Asian Games, where she established a world record in her weight category.
7. Deng Wei
Deng Wei is a renowned Chinese weightlifter and one of the most accomplished athletes in international weightlifting. She is an Olympic champion, a five-time World Champion, and an Asian Champion.
Following the International Weightlifting Federation’s reorganization of weight classes in 2018, Deng Wei competed in the women’s 58 kg category.
She also competed in the 64 kg weight category, where she set a world record with an impressive lift of 117 kg.
Through her consistent performances and record-breaking achievements, Deng Wei established herself as one of China’s most successful female weightlifters.
6. Oxana Slivenko
Silvenko took part in the women’s 69 kg lifting category and also won the gold medal, setting a World Record in the World Weightlifting Championships in 2007.
She secured the gold medal and set a world record at the World Weightlifting Championships in 2007.
Slivenko continued her dominance in the same weight category, winning another gold medal with a total lift of 276kg.
Although her journey to the London Olympics in 2012 was cut short due to a severe injury during training, Slivenko’s achievements remain awe-inspiring.
5. Natalya Zabolotnaya
Natalya Zabolotnaya, a professional weightlifter, showcased her remarkable strength at the 2004 Summer Olympics.
Competing in the women’s 75kg category, she secured the silver medal with a total lift of 272.5kg.
Zabolotnaya’s prowess extended to the European Championship in 2010, where she claimed the gold medal in the 75kg weight category, further solidifying her position as a top-tier weightlifter.
4. Hripsime Khurshudyan
Khurshudyan is an Armenian weightlifter. She won a silver medal at the European Weightlifting Championships in 2006.
She was the first women’s weightlifter from Armenia to win a medal at the European weightlifting championship.
Khurshudyan also won a Junior World Championship in 2007.
Khurshudyan participated in the 2008 Summer Olympics in the 75 kg weight category and finished 11th.
In 2010, she wasn’t found to be fit for the 75kg category and got promoted to the upper level of weight lifting.
In 2012, she participated in the London Olympics in the 76 kg category and won a bronze medal.
She wasn’t only the first Armenian woman to win a weightlifting medal, but also the first woman to win a medal.
3. Wang Mingjuan
Wang Mingjuan is a Chinese weightlifter who won the gold medal in the women’s 48 kg weightlifting event at the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Throughout her weightlifting career, she set a total of 12 records. Wang Mingjuan also maintained an unbeaten international record for 10 years before capturing Olympic gold in the first women’s weightlifting event at the London Games.
Her victory provided the Chinese weightlifting team.
2. Tatiana Kashirina
Tatiana Kashirina is a Russian female weightlifter, Olympic silver medalist, 5-time World Champion, and 8-time European Champion.
Kashirina had won the world championship five times, in the years 2010, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2018, in both the +75kg and +87kg categories.
She also won the silver medal in the Women’s +75 kg category at the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Presently, she holds a neat world record of 185 kg along with the world record of 145 kg and a together world record of a total of 330 kg in the +87 kg weight category.
Kashirina has set a total of 23 in her whole weightlifting career.
1. Zhou Lulu
Zhou Lulu is regarded as one of the greatest female weightlifters in the world. Competing in the women’s super heavyweight division, she established a world-record total of 328 kg at the World Weightlifting Championships in Paris, France.
Zhou Lulu further demonstrated her exceptional strength at the London Olympics by lifting a combined total of 333 kg in the women’s over 75 kg weight category.
In doing so, she broke her own previous world record of 328 kg and won the Olympic gold medal, reinforcing her status as one of the strongest and most successful female weightlifters in the sport.
These ten exceptional female weightlifters have pushed the boundaries of the sport, inspiring generations to come.
Their unwavering dedication, remarkable strength, and unparalleled achievements have solidified their positions as some of the best weightlifters in history.
Their achievements have rightfully earned them a place among the most famous athletes in the world.
Their legacy will continue to inspire future athletes to strive for greatness and redefine what is possible in weightlifting.