On April 3, Beijing time, the International Olympic Committee officially approved the competition items and schedules of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, compared with the 33 major events and 339 minor events at the Tokyo Olympic Games, the Paris Olympic Games further completed the "slimming". In the small adjustment of some projects, the total number of gold medals in weightlifting, one of the six traditional advantages of China, will be reduced from 14 to 10, and the men's and women's levels have been readjusted. This means that Wang Zhouyu, a famous weightlifter in our province and the winner of the Women's 87 kg category at the Tokyo Olympic Games, has to face a class adjustment again.
There are only 3 gold medal events left
In the regulations announced by the International Olympic Committee, weightlifting will be reduced from 14 sub-events of the Tokyo Olympic Games to 10, and there will be five gold medals for men and women, namely men's events: 61, 73, 89, 102 kg and 102 kg and above, and women's events: 49, 59, 71, 81 kg and 81 kg and above.
At last year's Tokyo Olympics, the Chinese weightlifting team participated in eight events, delivering 7 gold and 1 silver record in history, which were men's 61, 67, 73 and 81 kg and women's 49, 87 and 87 kg or more. After this adjustment, only three gold medallists were retained by the Chinese team, namely Li Fabin, gold medalist in the men's 61 kg category, Shi Zhiyong, gold medalist in the men's 73 kg category, and Hou Zhihui, gold medalist in the women's 49 kg category.
Can China's weightlifting continue its advantage?
Does the reality of the Paris Olympics' reduction in weightlifting mean that China's weightlifting team will suffer a heavy blow, and can the gold medal tradition continue? And how to make targeted adjustments to ensure the advantage?
In response to the level change in the weightlifting event, the first thing is that the athlete should gain or lose weight to achieve the required level of participation. The adjustment level is not a new thing for Wang Zhouyu, in the Tokyo Olympic cycle, she rose from 76 to 87 kg, overcame all difficulties, and finally stood at the top of the Olympic Games.
In the largest level of the event, the weight of the participating athletes is not capped, such as Li Wenwen, the champion of the women's 87 kg or above in the Tokyo Olympic Games, she does not need any adjustment, and she can directly participate in the 81 kg level or above in the Paris Olympic Games.
The most affected are Lü Xiaojun's 81 kg class and Chen Lijun's 67 kg class, the two Tokyo Olympic champions are directly cancelled, especially the 37-year-old Lu Xiaojun wants to appear at the Paris Olympic Games, gain 8 kg to participate in the 89 kg class, or lose 8 kg to participate in the 73 kg class, which is quite difficult.
The most tricky thing is not only that the project is cut, but also the probability of the number of participants will be reduced, which poses a great problem for the platooning of China's weightlifting team, and the competition will be more fierce and cruel in the selection process of careful selection and excellence.
Hubei two will reduce weight and actively respond
Ma Jianping, director of the Provincial Heavy Sports Center, believes that this change does have an impact on the strength of the Chinese weightlifting team, but believes that the national weightlifting team has the ability to overcome many difficulties and achieve good results in the Paris Olympic Games. Ma Jianping said: "In the last cycle, the national weightlifting team has been greatly improved in terms of preparation level and ability to cope with adjustments, and is now ready to deal with various difficulties and complex situations, and has reserved outstanding talents at all levels of participation, and the selection of participants is more abundant and has better preparation experience." Moreover, the Chinese weightlifting team is stronger in the small and medium-sized levels, especially the women's event advantage coverage is greater, and the advantage is still obvious. ”
The rules are constantly changing, but the goals are the same. For Wang Zhouyu and Tian Tao, two weightlifters in our province preparing for the Paris Olympics, the opportunity still exists.
Ma Jianping introduced that the new cycle of preparation, the national weightlifting team is still very heavy on the two Hubei players, Wang Zhouyu in the Hangzhou Asian Games after participating in the women's 87 kg class, according to the strategic deployment of the national team, weight reduction to 81 kg class, Tian Tao will be reduced from the men's 96 kg class to 89 kg class. Ma Jianping said: "As a trustworthy and excellent player in the national team, Wang Zhouyu not only has outstanding strength, but also has a strong ability to adapt and adjust, and has also accumulated experience in the Olympic Competition; as long as Tian Tao recovers from injuries as soon as possible and further improves his ability, the two of them still have the advantage at their respective levels to stand on the stage of the Paris Olympic Games." ”
At present, Wang Zhouyu is training with the national weightlifting team in Hainan Wuzhishan, because the preparation for the Paris Olympics is only a little more than two years, and at the same time, it also faces the adjustment and adaptation of the new level, Wang Zhouyu said: "The new cycle should cope with the level adjustment, to meet a new challenge, he will reduce his weight to 81 kg to participate." For the Paris Olympic Games, I am looking forward to it and full of confidence. At present, I still want to take every step well, better than every event before the Olympics. ”
Text/Hubei Daily reporter Zhang Shiqiu
Photo: Xinhua News Agency