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London 2012 Olympic champion Lydia Valentín wins fourth European title
01/04/2018
OLYMPIC weightlifter Lydia Valentín has just won her fourth European championship title in the under-75 kilo category, successfully defending last year's win.
Lydia (pictured), who comes from the province of León in centre-northern Spain, lifted 107 kilos on her first attempt – enough to guarantee her the gold at this weekend's European final in Bucharest, Romania – then lifted 112 and 115 respectively in the next two rounds.
She was playing it safe, so as not to risk injury, meaning she was a long way off her 2014 record of 124 kilos, but it was enough to put her comfortably in the lead.
She lifted 12 kilos more than the Gaëlle Nayo-Ketchanke – from Cameroon but with a French passport – and 14 more than Malgorzata Wiejak, from Poland, who took silver and bronze respectively.
The next leg of the competition was a double lift, in which Lydia managed to hoist 130 kilos on the first try, setting the bar high for Gaëlle who responded by lifting 131.
On the second try, Lydia lifted 135, and when Gaëlle's 136-kilo hoist was disqualified, Valentín had her title in the bag, despite an error leading to her failing to lift 140 kilos.
Gaëlle took the silver in the end and Finland's Meri Ilmarinen netted the bronze.
Lydia won an Olympic silver in London 2012 and a gold in Peking 2008, although she did not know about them until 2017.
When she netted her bronze in Rio 2016, Lydia thought this was the first Olympic medal of her career, having come away with diplomas for fourth place in London and fifth in Peking – but results of doping cases ended up with all three medallists from London 2012 and Peking 2008 being disqualified.
Even though it took 10 years before Lydia finally got her Peking silver – and she is still waiting for her London gold – she is determined not to feel bitter and twisted about it, since she believes they were worth waiting for.
The doping scam meant she twice missed out on representing her country on the podium and, in London, on standing for her national anthem, and may have lost very useful sponsorship deals through not making the top two – and in Lydia's sport, this is completely necessary as most weightlifters live off full-time jobs they fit in around their training.
But it was also a wonderful surprise to find out later that she had achieved far better results than she had first thought.
Related Topics
OLYMPIC weightlifter Lydia Valentín has just won her fourth European championship title in the under-75 kilo category, successfully defending last year's win.
Lydia (pictured), who comes from the province of León in centre-northern Spain, lifted 107 kilos on her first attempt – enough to guarantee her the gold at this weekend's European final in Bucharest, Romania – then lifted 112 and 115 respectively in the next two rounds.
She was playing it safe, so as not to risk injury, meaning she was a long way off her 2014 record of 124 kilos, but it was enough to put her comfortably in the lead.
She lifted 12 kilos more than the Gaëlle Nayo-Ketchanke – from Cameroon but with a French passport – and 14 more than Malgorzata Wiejak, from Poland, who took silver and bronze respectively.
The next leg of the competition was a double lift, in which Lydia managed to hoist 130 kilos on the first try, setting the bar high for Gaëlle who responded by lifting 131.
On the second try, Lydia lifted 135, and when Gaëlle's 136-kilo hoist was disqualified, Valentín had her title in the bag, despite an error leading to her failing to lift 140 kilos.
Gaëlle took the silver in the end and Finland's Meri Ilmarinen netted the bronze.
Lydia won an Olympic silver in London 2012 and a gold in Peking 2008, although she did not know about them until 2017.
When she netted her bronze in Rio 2016, Lydia thought this was the first Olympic medal of her career, having come away with diplomas for fourth place in London and fifth in Peking – but results of doping cases ended up with all three medallists from London 2012 and Peking 2008 being disqualified.
Even though it took 10 years before Lydia finally got her Peking silver – and she is still waiting for her London gold – she is determined not to feel bitter and twisted about it, since she believes they were worth waiting for.
The doping scam meant she twice missed out on representing her country on the podium and, in London, on standing for her national anthem, and may have lost very useful sponsorship deals through not making the top two – and in Lydia's sport, this is completely necessary as most weightlifters live off full-time jobs they fit in around their training.
But it was also a wonderful surprise to find out later that she had achieved far better results than she had first thought.
Related Topics
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