Chen Weiqiang

Chen Weiqiang ( Chinese  陳 偉強  /  陈 伟强 , Pinyin Chén Wěiqiáng ; born June 7, 1958 in Dongguan , Guangdong Province ) is a former Chinese weightlifter . He was Olympic champion in 1984 in a featherweight duel.

Career

Chen Weiqiang began lifting weights at the Guangdong Provincial High School in 1972 . That was the time when sport could be practiced again in China after the end of the so-called cultural revolution. In 1974 he was accepted into the provincial team of Guangdong due to his achievements and received Chen Jingkai as a coach.

He made his first appearance at an international championship in 1977 at the Asian championship. However, no results are known from this. In the same year, as a 19-year-old athlete, he was used at the Senior World Championships in Stuttgart . He started there in the flyweight and made three failed attempts in the snatch. He managed 125 kg in the push, but remained unplaced without a duel.

In 1978 he became the Chinese bantamweight champion with an output of 240 kg (102.5-137.5), with which he referred Ho Yichang, who managed 237.5 kg (105-132.5), to second place. On April 14, 1978, he was in Canton in a Chinese team that denied a friendly comparison campaign against the Federal Republic of Germany . He mastered there in the bantamweight 247.5 kg (107.5-140) and got a point for his country because the FRG left the bantamweight unoccupied. He then started at the Junior World Championships in Athens in 1978 and finished there in bantamweight with 245 kg (107.5-137.5), second behind the Soviet lifter Pospelow, who came to 250 kg (110-140). Finally, he also took part in the World Championships that year in Gettysburg (USA) and came in 5th place with 242.5 kg (102.5-140) in bantamweight. In pushing he just missed the medal ranks with his 140 kg and landed in 4th place in this sub-discipline.

In 1979, at an event in Shanghai , he set a new world record for jogging the bantamweight at 151.5 kg. In 1979 he was used again at the World Cup, which took place in Salonika . He achieved there with 257.5 kg (110-147.5) a new personal best, with which he only finished 7th in the overall ranking. In an additional fourth attempt in pushing, however, he achieved another world record in Saloniki with 153 kg. If he had already hit this weight in the third attempt, he would have come second in the overall standings and become world champion in pushing.

No results are known from Chen Weiqiang from 1980 and 1981. He also did not compete in any of the international championships. It should be noted that China did not take part in the Olympic Games in Moscow in 1980 for political reasons .

In 1982 Chen Weiqiang won the Asian Games in New Delhi in featherweight with a duel of 282.5 kg, relegating Li Hui-Bong from North Korea , who came to 277.5 kg, to 2nd place. At the 1982 World Cup in Lille, he was not used. In 1983 he came at the World Championships in Moscow in featherweight with 280 kg (120-160) on 6th place.

In 1984 he took advantage of the hour at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles , which resulted from the boycott of these games by almost all of the then Eastern Bloc countries and was featherweight with a duel of 282.5 kg (125-157 , 5) Olympic champion . At the same time he was also a duel world champion and world champion in pushing.

After his Olympic victory, Chen Weiqiang resigned.

International success

year	space	competition	Weight class
1977	unpl.	World Cup in Stuttgart	To fly	with 3 failed attempts in tearing, in pushing 125 kg; Winner: Alexander Voronin , USSR , 247.5 kg (107.5–140) ahead of György Köszegi , Hungary , 235 kg (102.5–132.5)
1978	2.	Junior World Championships in Athens	Bantam	with 245 kg (107.5–137.5), behind Pospelow, USSR, 250 kg (110–140)
1978	5.	World Cup in Gettysburg / USA	Bantam	at 242.5 kg (102.5-140); Winner: Daniel Núñez , Cuba , 260 kg (117.5–142.5) ahead of Marek Seweryn , Poland , 252.5 kg (115–137.5)
1979	7th	World Cup in Saloniki	Bantam	at 257.5 kg (110-147.5); Winner: Anton Kodschabaschew , Bulgaria , 267.5 kg (117.5–150) ahead of Viktor Weretennikow , USSR, 262.5 kg (112.5–150)
1982	1.	Asia Games in New Delhi	feather	with 282.5 kg, ahead of Li Hui-Bong, North Korea , 277.5 kg
1983	6th	World Cup in Moscow	feather	with 280 kg (120-160); Winner: Jurik Sarkisjan , USSR, 312.5 kg (137.5–175) ahead of Stefan Topurow , Bulgaria, 312.5 kg (132.5–180)
1984	gold	OS in Los Angeles	feather	with 282.5 kg (125–157.5), before Gelu Radu , Romania , 280 kg (125–155) and the like. Tsai Wen-Yee, Taiwan , 272.5 kg (125-147.5)

World Cup individual medals

• World Cup gold medals: 1984 / pushing
• World Cup bronze medals: 1984 / tearing

National competitions

(as far as known)

year	space	competition	Weight class
1978	1.	chinese championship	Bantam	with 240 kg (102.5-137.5) before Ho Yichang, 237.5 kg (105-132.5)

World records

date	place	discipline	Weight class	power
6/29/79	Shanghai	Bump	Bantam	151.5 kg
November 4, 1979	Saloniki	Bump	Bantam	153 kg

Explanations

• all competitions in single combat, consisting of snatch and push,
• OS = Olympic Games,
• WM = World Championship,
• Flyweight, back then up to 52 kg body weight,
• Bantam weight, then up to 56 kg body weight,
• Feather weight, back then up to 60 kg body weight

swell

• Athletics magazine
• Database of the Institute for Applied Training Sciences at the University of Leipzig,
• Website www.sports123.com

Web links

• Chen Weiqiang in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
• Brief portrait of Chen Weiqiang

Note: This article places the family name before the person's first name. This is the usual order in Chinese. Chen is the family name here, Weiqiang is the first name.