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Lü Xiaojun

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Lü Xiaojun (吕小军)
Personal information
NationalityChinese
Born (1984-07-27) 27 July 1984 (age 40)
Qianjiang, Hubei, China
Height1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
Weight80.75 kg (178 lb)
Sport
CountryChina
SportWeightlifting
Event–81 kg
ClubTianjin
Coached byYu Jie [1]
Achievements and titles
Personal bests
Medal record
Representing  China
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2020 Tokyo –81 kg
Gold medal – first place 2012 London –77 kg
Silver medal – second place 2016 Rio de Janeiro –77 kg
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2009 Goyang –77 kg
Gold medal – first place 2011 Paris –77 kg
Gold medal – first place 2013 Wrocław –77 kg
Gold medal – first place 2018 Ashgabat –81 kg
Gold medal – first place 2019 Pattaya –81 kg
Silver medal – second place 2010 Antalya –77 kg
Asian Games
Gold medal – first place 2014 Incheon –77 kg
Asian Championships
Gold medal – first place 2011 Tongling –77 kg
Gold medal – first place 2020 Tashkent –81 kg
Silver medal – second place 2008 Kanazawa –77 kg
Junior World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2004 Minsk –69 kg
National Games of China
Gold medal – first place 2013 Liaoning –77 kg
Gold medal – first place 2017 Tianjin –77 kg
Silver medal – second place 2009 Shandong –77 kg
In this Chinese name, the family name is Lü.
Lü Xiaojun
Simplified Chinese吕小军
Traditional Chinese呂小軍
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinLǚ Xiǎojūn
IPA[lỳ ɕjàʊtɕýn]

Lü Xiaojun (Chinese: 吕小军; born 27 July 1984) is a Chinese weightlifter. He is a three-time Olympic champion and five-time world champion competing in the 77 kg category until 2018 and 81 kg starting in 2018 after the International Weightlifting Federation reorganized the categories.[2] He is widely considered as one of the greatest weightlifters of all time.

Early life

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Lü was born in a village administered by Qianjiang City, Hubei Province. His father, Lü Yuan, and the rest of his family were impoverished peasants. Contrary to popular belief, Lu's athletic career started out as a short-distance track and field sprinter and he didn't begin specific weightlifting training until he was 14. After winning a local elementary school track and field meet at the age of 12, he was scouted by the county-level track and field coaches and asked to join the team. But Lu led a rather short career as a young sprinter. At a 200 metre meet where he was placed 6th in 1998, Lu was scouted by his first weightlifting coach Deng Minghu who noted that Lu, though lacking endurance for short-distance sprinting, was extremely explosive and powerful out of the block and at the early part of the race and had a favorable physique for the sport of weightlifting. Lu, who was already 14 at this point, was then invited by Deng to join the Qian Jiang city youth athletic school to start training as a weightlifter.[3] In 1999, to remove the financial burden on Lü's family, his coach Dengling Hu sent him to join the provincial team.

Weightlifting career

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In 2003 Lü represented the Hubei provincial team in the Chinese national weightlifting championships, competing at 69 kg. He won the bronze total for his class. The same year, due to his outstanding performance, he was recruited by the Chinese national team. In 2006 due to ligament injuries in his shoulders and legs, he left the national team. In 2008, after the 2008 Summer Olympics, Lü renewed his training in the national team with coach Yu Jie.[4]

He has set thirteen senior world records throughout the course of his career, seven at –77 kg and six at –81 kg.

Lu Xiaojun in Switzerland, 2019

Olympics

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Heading into the 2012 Summer Olympics Lü was the heavy favorite to win. He ended up winning the gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the 77 kg class with a total of 379 kg.[5] His snatch of 175 kg set both a world and Olympic record, as did his total of 379 kg, for the 77 kg class.[6] Due to the confusion between Lü and his opponent Lu Haojie's family name, Lü was unable to attempt his third lift of snatch at 177 kg.[7]

He was again the heavy favorite to win gold at the 2016 Summer Olympics. He finished the snatch phase with a new world record of 177 kg, but did not win gold due to Nijat Rahimov's clean and jerk world record of 214 kg. Lü and Rahimov had the same total, but Rahimov won due to virtue of a lighter body weight.[8] However, due to the doping offences of Rahimov, the gold medal was stripped and Rahimov was disqualified in March 2022.[9] As of July 2024, the medals have not yet been re-allocated and will not be until final rulings by the IOC have been issued.[10]

At the 2020 Summer Olympics, Lü dominated the newly established men's 81 kg weightlifting competition by lifting 170 kg and 204 kg in the snatch and clean & jerk phases respectively for a total of 374 kg to win the gold medal. By winning this title, Lü became the oldest weightlifting champion in the history of modern Olympic Games at 37.

Lu at the 2018 World Weightlifting Championships

World Championships

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In 2009 he won his first World Weightlifting Championships where he set new Snatch and Total world records. Looking to repeat in 2010 he ended up being the silver medalist, but returned in 2011 to win gold for the second time.

Lü won 3 gold medals in the 77 kg class at the 2013 World Weightlifting Championships. He broke his own world record in the snatch with a lift of 176 kg. He also completed a 204 kg clean and jerk, setting a new world record total of 380 kg.

At the 2015 World Weightlifting Championships he won the gold medal in the snatch, but was unable to complete a clean and jerk which eliminated him from winning a fourth world championship.

In 2018 the International Weightlifting Federation updated the weight classes, and he competed in the newly created 81 kg division.[11] The 81 kg division saw 5 world records set and 11 junior world records set. In the snatch portion, Lü initially set the snatch world record of 172 kg, then Mohamed Ihab in his next attempt lifted 173 kg setting a new world record. In the clean & jerk portion, Mohamed Ihab set 2 new world records in the total with his first two lifts, but he was unable to lift his final clean & jerk of 203 kg. This allowed Lu to win gold with his 202 kg clean & jerk, setting a new world record total of 374 kg, out lifting Mohamed Ihab by 1 kg.[12]

In the 2019 Championships held in Thailand, Lu again won gold in the 81 kg category, setting a new world record of 378 kg total (171 kg snatch and 207 kg clean & jerk).[13]

Lu did not compete in the 2022 World Weightlifting Championships held in December 2022, which was won by his compatriot Li Dayin.[14]

Doping ban

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In December 2022, it was revealed that Lu had tested positive during an out-of-competition testing for the use of blood booster hormone EPO in a blood sample collected on 30 October 2022. Lu denied taking any prohibited substance and can request that a backup sample B be tested.[14] Lu has been provisionally suspended until the issue is resolved.[15]

Personal life

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Lü married his long-term girlfriend Guo Xiyan, a former world class weightlifter herself, in December 2013.[16] They have three children, with the youngest born in December 2023.

Major results

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Year Venue Weight Snatch (kg) Clean & Jerk (kg) Total Rank
1 2 3 Rank 1 2 3 Rank
Olympic Games
2012 United Kingdom London, England 77 kg 170 175 WR 177 1 195 204 204 1 379 WR 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2016 Brazil Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 77 kg 170 175 177 WR 1 197 197 202 2 379 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
2021 Japan Tokyo, Japan 81 kg 165 165 170 OR 1 197 204 OR 210 1 374 OR 1st place, gold medalist(s)
World Championships
2009 South Korea Goyang, South Korea 77 kg 165 170 174 WR 1st place, gold medalist(s) 200 204 211 1st place, gold medalist(s) 378 WR 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2010 Turkey Antalya, Turkey 77 kg 165 170 175 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 200 206 206 1st place, gold medalist(s) 370 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
2011 France Paris, France 77 kg 165 170 170 1st place, gold medalist(s) 200 205 211 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 375 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2013 Poland Wrocław, Poland 77 kg 160 170 176 WR 1st place, gold medalist(s) 196 204 – 1st place, gold medalist(s) 380 WR 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2015 United States Houston, United States 77 kg 170 175 177 1st place, gold medalist(s) 201 201 201 – – –
2018 Turkmenistan Ashgabat, Turkmenistan 81 kg 165 170 172 WR 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 197 202 205 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 374 WR 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2019 Thailand Pattaya, Thailand 81 kg 165 165 171 1st place, gold medalist(s) 191 205 207 WR 1st place, gold medalist(s) 378 CWR 1st place, gold medalist(s)
Asian Games
2014 South Korea Incheon, South Korea 77 kg 165 170 175 1 200 200 200 1 375 1st place, gold medalist(s)
Asian Championships
2008 Japan Kanazawa, Japan 77 kg 158 163 163 1st place, gold medalist(s) 188 188 192 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 346 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
2011 China Tongling, China 77 kg 160 165 165 1st place, gold medalist(s) 190 192 192 1st place, gold medalist(s) 352 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2020 Uzbekistan Tashkent, Uzbekistan 81 kg 165 170 174 WR 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 199 208 208 1st place, gold medalist(s) 373 1st place, gold medalist(s)
  • WR: World record
  • OR: Olympic record

References

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  1. ^ "London Olympics Weightlifting Men". Retrieved 10 February 2013.
  2. ^ PDF listing of 2018 Group A world championship entrants in 81 kg
  3. ^ "Lu Xiaojun Used to Train for 200 Metres". Retrieved 20 March 2023.
  4. ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Chasing the Dream at Tokyo: LU Xiaojun". YouTube. 13 July 2021.
  5. ^ "London Olympics: Record-setting Lu Xiaojun wins men's −77kg weightlifting". The Times of India. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
  6. ^ BBC. "Lu Xiaojun wins gold with record lift". BBC Sport. Retrieved 24 December 2018.
  7. ^ ESPN (August 2012). "Lu Xiaojun sets snatch world record". Retrieved 24 December 2018.
  8. ^ Oliver, Brian (11 August 2016). "Weightlifting: Doping questions raised as record-breaker Rahimov takes gold for Kazakhstan". Reuters. Retrieved 24 December 2018.
  9. ^ "Kazakhstan's Nijat Rahimov stripped of Rio 2016 Olympic gold medal and banned". BBC. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
  10. ^ "Two Rio Olympics weightlifters return adverse results from 2016 samples". Business Standard. Associated Press. July 19, 2024. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
  11. ^ Olympic Channel. "2018 IWF WEIGHTLIFTING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: WHO AND HOW TO WATCH". Retrieved 24 December 2018.
  12. ^ IWF.net (5 November 2018). "World Record Parade in the men's 81kg". Retrieved 24 December 2018.
  13. ^ Balf, Celia (23 September 2019). "Lu Xiaojun Overcomes Injury To Set New World Records And Win His Fifth Weightlifting World Championship". BarBend.
  14. ^ a b "Lyu Xiaojun, Olympic champion weightlifter, banned for EPO". NBC Sports. 23 December 2022.
  15. ^ Blechman, Phil (23 December 2022). "Lu Xiaojun Provisionally Suspended Due To Apparent Anti-Doping Rule Violation". BarBend.
  16. ^ "大力士吕小军变温柔小男人 甜蜜迎娶10年爱人(图)--体育--人民网".
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