Solfrid Koanda

2022–2023

Koanda was nominated for Female Athlete of the Year at the 2022 Idrettsgallaen in January. The award was won by skier Therese Johaug. Five months later, she competed at the 2022 European Weightlifting Championships in Tirana, Albania, in the women's 87 kg event. She lifted 109 kg in the snatch, 143 kg in the clean and jerk, and 252 kg in the total for all available gold medals, new national records for all lifts, and becoming the first Norwegian weightlifter to become European champion. She then won her first Kongepokal at the when she lifted 111 kg in the snatch, 145 kg in the clean and jerk, and 256 kg in the total for the gold medal and new national and Nordic records.

In August, Koanda suffered a stress fracture in her wrist which limited her training. She used a wooden stick to train before progressing to a barbell until November, a few weeks before the 2022 World Weightlifting Championships in Bogotá, Colombia. In the women's 87 kg event, she lifted 113 kg in the snatch, 147 kg in the clean and jerk, and 260 kg in the total, earning all of the available gold medals, setting new national records, and becoming the first Norwegian world champion in weightlifting. A month later, she was nominated again for Female Athlete of the Year at the Idrettsgallaen, where the title was given to Johaug. Two months later, she won her second Kongepokal at the in Trondheim when she snatched 115 kg, clean and jerked 150 kg, and finished with a total of 265 kg, earning the gold medal and setting new national and Nordic records.

In April, Koanda was nominated as the Best Weightlifter of the Year by the European Weightlifting Federation, where she won the award. Later that month, she retained her title in the women's 87 kg event at the 2023 European Championships held in Yerevan. She lifted 117 kg in the snatch, 155 kg in the clean and jerk, and 272 kg in the total for all available gold medals. It was her last competition before cutting weight for the 2023 IWF Grand Prix I in Havana, Cuba, where she competed in the women's 81 kg event to qualify for the 2024 Summer Olympics. She snatched 116 kg, clean and jerked 150 kg, and finished with a total of 266 kg for the overall gold medal. She then went on to compete at the 2023 World Weightlifting Championships in Riyadh to compete in the women's 87 kg event yet failed all of her lifts in the snatch and failed to register a total, yet won the gold medal in the clean and jerk with 156 kg.

2024–present Koanda opened up her 2024 season by competing at the 2024 European Weightlifting Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria, in the women's 87 kg event. She snatched 120 kg, clean and jerked 160 kg, and finished with a total of 280 kg for the overall gold medal. A month after the competition, she won her third Kongepokal at the . She then went on to compete at the 2024 IWF World Cup in Phuket, Thailand, in the women's 87 kg event, where she snatched 123 kg in the snatch for a new national and Nordic record, 152 kg in the clean and jerk, and finished with a total of 275 kg to win the overall gold medal.

At the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France, she competed in the women's 81 kg event. She lifted 121 kg in the snatch, 154 kg in the clean and jerk, and finished with a total of 275 kg for the gold medal. She also set new Olympic records in clean and jerk and total, in addition to becoming the first Norwegian Olympic gold medalist in weightlifting since the 1972 Summer Olympics and the first Norwegian woman to win an individual Olympic gold medal at the Summer Games since the 2004 Summer Olympics. Following her win, she won Female Athlete of the Year at the 2025 ceremony of the Idrettsgaellen. She won her fourth Kongepokal in March 2025 after winning in her event at the 2025 Norwegian Weightlifting Championships in Bergen. She worked as an apprentice before receiving a degree in electrotechnology, where she then worked as an electrician before becoming a full-time athlete towards the end of 2022. She currently lives in Grimstad and represents Larvik Atletklubb at local competitions.