Canadian Olympic gold medalist Maude Charron of Saint-Luce, Quebec won a World Cup weightlifting bronze medal in Phuket, Thailand on Wednesday. The gold medalist from the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021, Charron set a Canadian record in reaching the podium. She lifted a total of 236 kilograms, which set the Canadian record in the women’s 59 kilogram category. Charron’s lift in the snatch was 106 kilograms and her lift in the clean and jerk was 130 kilograms.
Luo Shifang of China won the gold medal with a total lift of 248 kilograms. Gyong Kim II of North Korea won the silver medal with a total lift of 240 kilograms. Charron reached the podium by three kilograms over Xinyi Pei of China, who was in fourth place with a total lift of 233 kilograms.
Charron’s previous record in the women’s 59 kilogram category was 231 kilograms when she won the bronze medal at the 2022 World Weightlifting Championships on December 8, 2022 in Bogota, Colombia. When Charron won her gold medal at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021, she competed in the women’s 64 kilogram division, and lifted 236 kilograms there too.
It should be noted that the Olympic categories in women’s weightlifting at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021 were in the women’s 49 kilogram division, the women’s 55 kilogram division, the women’s 59 kilogram division, the women’s 64 kilogram division, the women’s 76 kilogram division, the women’s 87 kilogram division, and the women’s 87+ kilogram division. The categories at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris will be in the women’s 49 kilogram division, the women’s 59 kilogram division, the women’s 71 kilogram division, the women’s 81 kilogram division, and the women’s 81+ kilogram division. So there are two less medal opportunities in women’s weightlifting up for grabs. The bronze medal in Thailand will give Charron confidence as she prepares for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
