Chinese Olympic weightlifters are some of the most successful weightlifters of all time dominating the platform in recent years in the low to mid weight divisions. One reason they are so successful is that they specialise from a very young age, when showing potential in the sport the government support the athletes providing housing, food and recovery for athletes. Olympic sports are considered a way of life when the best in the country and can provide welfare for a family if they become very successful. The Chinese have a very intense competition within China, with a large drive to become better coming from the competition within their own country as weightlifters from other countries are pushed to lift more when a certain weight is enough to be the best in their country and they don’t have many other people pushing them for that positions. To be the best in China you have to most likely be one of the best in the world. Another factor is the huge talent pool that China possesses due to the enormity and population density. Most countries have one big star in weightlifting at one or two weight classes, for example Lasha Talakhadze being the superheavyweight champion from Georgia.
A significant Chinese weightlifter that even some not interested in weightlifting may have heard of is Lyu Xiaojun, a 77kg weight class lifter who won gold at the 2012 and 2016 olympics whilst setting a world record snatch in both victories, the highest being 177kg making him the first lifter in history to snatch 100kg above their bodyweight. Eventually a new weight class was created and Lyu competed at a weight of 81kg, at the world championships in Pattaya, Thailand Lyu broke the clean and jerk world record at a weight of 207kg. Lyu, often marvelled at for using the elusive and less conventional squat jerk, created a lot of hype especially due to the fact that he is coming to the end of his career at the age of 35.
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