Lydia Valentín

Lydia Valentín Pérez weightlifter, Olympic Champion, two-time World Champion and four-time European Champion competing in the 75 kg category until 2018 and 81 kg starting in 2018 after the International Weightlifting Federation reorganized the categories. She has won three Olympic medals (silver in 2008, gold in 2012 and bronze in 2016), two World Weightlifting Championships (2017 and 2018), and four European Weightlifting Championships.

Career At the 2007 World Championships, she ranked sixth in the 75 kg category with a total of 240 kg. In 2017, Valentín won the World Weightlifting Championship held in Anaheim, United States.

Olympics In the 75 kg category at the 2008 Summer Olympics, Valentín finished in fifth place with a 250 kg total. In 2016, retests of samples from the 75 kg category at the 2008 Olympics returned positive results for the original gold medalist Cao Lei and bronze medalist Nadezhda Evstyukhina. Both were disqualified, and Valentín was awarded the silver medal.

In 2012, Valentín competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the 75 kg category, and finished in fourth place with a 265 kg total, behind the eight new Olympic Records set by Svetlana Podobedova and Natalia Zabolotnaya. In 2016, during retests, all three original medalists returned positive results, thus disqualifying them. Valentín was declared the Olympic Champion, and in March 2019, she was awarded her gold medal.

In 2016, while waiting for confirmation of these medals, Valentín had competed in the 2016 Olympics, where she lifted a total of 257 kg and won the bronze medal. It was, at the time, Spain's first medal ever in weightlifting (retrospectively third).

In 2021, she competed in the women's 87 kg event at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.

Major results Year Venue Weight Snatch (kg) Clean & jerk (kg) Total Rank 1 2 3 Rank 1 2 3 Rank Olympic Games 2008 Beijing, China 75 kg 110 110 115 2 130 135 138 3 250 2012 London, United Kingdom 75 kg 115 115 120 1 140 145 148 1 265 2016 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 75 kg 112 116 116 2 135 138 141 3 257 2020 Tokyo, Japan 87 kg 100 103 106 10 122 – – 11 225 10 World Championships 2002 Warsaw, Poland 63 kg 80 80 80 – 92.5 92.5 120 13 – – 2005 Doha, Qatar 75 kg 100 105 107 7 115 115 120 13 220 11 2006 Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic 75 kg 100 100 100 13 120 120 120 – – – 2007 Chiang Mai, Thailand 75 kg 105 110 115 5 125 130 135 5 240 6 2009 Goyang, South Korea 75 kg 112 118 119 4 130 136 136 9 242 6 2010 Antalya, Turkey 75 kg 112 112 117 6 135 135 135 – – – 2011 Paris, France 75 kg 112 117 120 4 133 138 142 7 258 5 2013 Wrocław, Poland 75 kg 117 122 122 138 146 146 260 2014 Almaty, Kazakhstan 75 kg 120 120 124 140 147 148 4 264 4 2015 Houston, United States 75 kg – – – – – – – – – – 2017 Anaheim, United States 75 kg 110 115 118 130 135 140 258 2018 Ashgabat, Turkmenistan 81 kg 108 110 113 130 136 136 249 2019 Pattaya, Thailand 81 kg 105 108 112 5 130 134 138 246 European Championships 2005 Sofia, Bulgaria 75 kg 100 100 105 6 110 115 120 7 215 6 2006 Władysławowo, Poland 75 kg 103 103 108 5 118 122 125 7 225 7 2007 Strasbourg, France 75 kg 105 110 115 125 130 132 4 247 2008 Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy 75 kg 110 115 118 130 135 135 245 2009 Bucharest, Romania 75 kg 112 117 120 132 132 132 252 2010 Minsk, Belarus 75 kg 110 115 115 132 137 140 255 2011 Kazan, Russia 75 kg 112 117 122 132 142 146 264 2012 Antalya, Turkey 75 kg 112 117 123 135 143 146 260 2013 Tirana, Albania 75 kg 115 120 124 135 140 142 260 2014 Tel Aviv, Israel 75 kg 115 120 121 137 144 147 268 2015 Tbilisi, Georgia 75 kg 112 116 118 135 141 145 263 2017 Split, Croatia 75 kg 112 115 118 132 137 – 252 2018 Bucharest, Romania 75 kg 107 112 115 130 135 140 250 2019 Batumi, Georgia 76 kg 105 108 110 130 133 136 241 Mediterranean Games 2013 Mersin, Turkey 75 kg 112115120135140145265 – 2018 Tarragona, Spain 75 kg 105110112130137--249 –