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In Førde, site of the 2025 World Weightlifting Championships, Team China had their worst World Champs performance in 25 years.
They won only two medals in the total: Wang Hao (60KG) grabbed gold, and He Yueji (71KG) snuck bronze thanks to his world-record prowess in the snatch.
It's a stark departure from how weightlifting's winningest team typically does on the international stage:
- China’s dual W48s, Li Shumiao and Zhu Qiulian, ranked 4th and 5th in a class the country historically dominates.
Du Meiyuan withdrew from the W53s due to an injury in the warm-up room.
Zhu Linhan, just 18, placed 5th in the W+86s.
Ning Gan ranked 7th in the hotly competitive M79s.
And Pan Yunhua, a self-stylized successor to Tian Tao, went 0-for-6 in the M88s after calling for heavier weights on every attempt; an extreme rarity for any international competitor.
Team China didn't suddenly lose their mojo. There's a very good reason—and for the fans, a silver lining—why they weren't up to par at Worlds.
Team China | 2025 World Weightlifting Championships
In fairness to Team China, there were some bright spots. Yuan Hao (60KG) set a Junior world record in the snatch at 132, and He Yueji set a Senior snatch record at 160.
But the numbers don't lie. Last year, at Worlds, China won 9 medals in the total. The year prior, 13.
Chinese weightlifters have made it to the overall podium more often than any other country in the 21st century.
- China’s fall from grace in Førde isn’t inexplicable. They sent their B-team instead of their heavy hitters.
- Reliable medalists like Li Fabin, Liu Huanhua, Luo Shifang, and Liang Xiaomei are preparing for the 15th National Games of China—a multi-sport event regarded among the Chinese as more prestigious than the World Championships.
The money motive: Chinese provincial teams competing at the National Games receive funding based on their performances. For the weightlifters, who do not receive as much national adulation as more conventional sports, it’s a critical opportunity.
Team China will go big at their Games. We’ll do our best to get ahold of results during and after the event, which runs from Nov. 9 to 21.
