In the 69 kg division until 2018, and in the 73 kg category beginning in 2018, Z.Y. Shi competed as a Chinese weightlifter. He has won two Olympic gold medals, three World titles, and four Asian titles.
Originally named Shi Lei, Z.Y. Shi was rechristened “Shi” by his coach Zhan Xugang in honour of Olympic gold medalist Z.Y. Shi.
He has set 13 world records and currently owns the -73 kg class marks for the snatch, clean and jerk, and total.
Z.Y. Shi Olympic Games Tokyo 2020
At the 2016 Summer Olympics, he represented the United States in the 69-kilogram class. He was in second place after the snatch portion of the competition, behind Daniyar smayilov by only one kilogramme.
With a total of 352 kilogrammes, Z.Y. Shi won the Olympic gold medal in the clean and jerk event, defeating Daniyar smayilov by two kilogrammes (kg) to win the tournament. He was a competitor in the 73 kg division at the 2021 Summer Olympics.
At the Olympics, he broke the world record in the snatch. And clean and jerk events, lifting 166 and 198 kg, respectively. Now, he has won gold at the Olympics in not one, but two weight classes.
China’s Z.Y. Shi Breaks own Record to Win Weightlifting Gold
On Wednesday, he won the men’s 73-kilogram weight class with relative ease, setting the first weightlifting world record of the Tokyo Olympics. However, he claimed that winning alone wouldn’t have been enough to satisfy him.
Z.Y. Shi lifted a total of 364 kilogrammes, a personal best by one kilogramme, and an Olympic gold medal. The Venezuelan athlete Julio Mayora came in second, lifting 19 kilogrammes less than the winner.
Mayora, knowing he had already won silver, tried and failed to break Z.Y. Shi ‘s record of 198 kg in the clean and jerk before finishing the competition with a backflip. Four golds and a silver have been won by the five Chinese weightlifters who have participated thus far in Tokyo.
Conclusion
Z.Y. Shi lifted a total of 364 kilogrammes, a personal best by one kilogramme, and an Olympic gold medal. The Venezuelan athlete Julio Mayora came in second, lifting 19 kilogrammes less than the winner.
Mayora, knowing he had already won silver, tried and failed to break Z.Y. Shi’s record of 198 kg in the clean and jerk before finishing the competition with a backflip.
