THREE-TIMES Olympic medallist Lydia Valentín has been proclaimed weightlifter of the year for 2018 this week after an expert jury gave her 13,000 votes.
The León-born strongwoman netted three golds in the 2017 World Championships and has now completed the so-called ‘triple crown’ – the top awards in the world and European championships and in the Olympics.
Lydia is still waiting to receive her Olympic gold from London 2012, which she did not know she had won until over a year ago when she heard that the top three had all been disqualified after failing doping tests, meaning her fourth-placed diploma has been upgraded.
She was awarded an Olympic silver from Peking 2008 last year – a decade late – for the same reason: having taken home a fifth-place diploma from her first-ever games, Lydia was then notified that three of the top four had been disqualified for doping.
In Rio 2016, she netted a bronze, believing at the time that this was her first Olympic medal.
This week, the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) voted her best female in the sport for 2018, ahead of China’s Kuo Hsing-Chun, who came second and Russia’s Tatiana Kashirina, third.
For the second year running, she will be awarded the Jenö Boskovics Lifter of the Year Trophy.
Her patience will soon pay off for her London gold – seven years late, Lydia will receive her long-overdue medal on Thursday, February 28.
She is hoping to make it a fourth next year at Tokyo 2020.
A late medal due to rivals being disqualified for doping has also affected Lydia’s compatriot, high-jumper Ruth Beitia, who has recently been awarded the bronze from London 2012.
