The men's 102 kg weightlifting competition at the 2024 Summer Olympics was held on 10 August at the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles.
Due to the restructuring of new weight categories, the men's 109 kg category of the previous games was replaced by the men's 102 kg category. Going into the competition, Liu Huanhua of China was the favourite, while 2022 World Champion Fares El-Bakh of Qatar and Garik Karapetyan of Armenia were also among the top contenders. Nurgissa Adiletuly of Kazakhstan was also seen as a contender but was disqualified in 2023 due to anti-doping measures. In the final, Liu won gold, followed by previous Olympic champion Akbar Djuraev of Uzbekistan with silver and Yauheni Tsikhantsou of the Individual Neutral Athletes winning bronze.
Background On 14 June 2022, the International Weightlifting Federation officially announced the new weight categories for the 2024 Summer Olympics, with the total medal count reduced from fourteen to ten. The men's 109 kg category of the last games, which was won by Akbar Djuraev, was replaced by the men's 102 kg category.
At the 2022 World Weightlifting Championships, the first eligible event during the qualification timeline, 2020 Summer Olympic champion in the men's 96 kg category Fares El-Bakh placed first. Garik Karapetyan broke the junior world record in the clean and jerk with 214 kilograms at the 2023 European Weightlifting Championships, also placing first overall. At the 2023 Asian Weightlifting Championships, Nurgissa Adiletuly initially placed first with a 400 kilogram total but was eventually disqualified after testing positive for a stimulant.
Making his debut in the category, Liu Huanhua competed at the 2023 World Weightlifting Championships and placed first with a total of 404 kilograms. Four weeks later, although not in the timeline for the qualification period, Liu placed first and unofficially broke the two world records at the 2022 Asian Games. He lifted 233 kilograms for the clean and jerk and 418 for the total in the men's 109 kg category, though weighed less than 102 kilograms and could have lifted in the category if it was in the programme of the games. The 2024 IWF World Cup was the last competition during the qualification period. There, Liu placed first, setting world records in the clean and jerk with 232 kilograms and in the total with 413 kilograms.
Sports Illustrated predicted that Liu would win, followed by El-Bakh in second and Karapetyan in third. A writer for the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) named El-Bakh as the "man to beat". Adiletuly was also seen as a medal contender. Qualification
Qualification for every event had spots for at least twelve weightlifters coming from different National Olympic Committees (NOC). Qualification spots were eligible for the ten highest-ranked weightlifters in the IWF Olympic Qualification Ranking, the highest-ranked weightlifter representing an NOC whose continent lies outside the top ten (IWF Olympic Continental Qualification Ranking), the host nation's reserved entry and a universality place. If a spot was still available once every continent was represented in the top ten, the host nation did not send an entry, a universality place was not used, or any combination of the following, the quota place was allocated to the next highest-ranked eligible weightlifter.
To be eligible for the event, all weightlifters must have competed at the 2023 World Weightlifting Championships in Riyadh, 2024 IWF World Cup in Phuket, and in at least three qualifying tournaments. Apart from two compulsory events, the host country France and those eligible for universality places may have competed in a minimum of two qualifying tournaments. For the men's 102 kg category, thirteen athletes were in the event, with the invitation of a Refugee Olympic Team member by the International Olympic Committee and the absence of a host entry.
+Qualified weightlifters Weightlifter Country Total (kg) Qualification Liu Huanhua 413 Ranking Garik Karapetyan 401 Ranking Fares El-Bakh 400 Ranking Akbar Djuraev 400 Ranking Yauheni Tsikhantsou 400 Ranking Jang Yeon-hak 399 Ranking Lesman Paredes 398 Ranking Davranbek Hasanbayev 392 Ranking Irakli Chkheidze 392 Ranking Don Opeloge 391 Ranking Wes Kitts 388 Continental ranking Ahmed Abuzriba — Universality place Ramiro Mora Romero — Refugee Olympic Team slot
Records The world records before the competition were the clean and jerk and total set by Li at the 2024 IWF World Cup, while the world standard of 191 kilograms in the snatch remained the same. As the event was new to the Olympic program, only the Olympic standards of 186 kilograms in the snatch, 220 kilograms in the clean and jerk, and 410 kilograms in the total, stood.
Results The event was held on 10 August, starting at 11:30 a.m., at the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles. Opeloge and El-Bakh were eliminated during the snatch portion of the event after failing all three of their attempts. Abuzriba had the lightest snatch of the event at 164 kilograms while Liu and Karapetyan tied with the highest with 186 kilograms; Djuraev had the second-heaviest snatch with 185 kilograms. Aburziba decided to pull-out of the event before the clean and jerk portion started. Hasanbayev had the lighest clean and jerk of the event at 190 kilograms while Liu lifted 220 kilograms as the heaviest of the event; Djuraev and Tsikhantsou tied for the second-heaviest at 219 kilograms. With a total of 406 kilograms, Liu won the Olympic title. Djuraev and Tsikhantsou placed second and third, respectively. Rank Athlete Nation Snatch (kg) Clean & Jerk (kg) Total 1 2 3 Result 1 2 3 Result Liu Huanhua 178 183 186 186 220 228 233220 406 Akbar Djuraev 180 185 189 185 219 224 232219 404 Yauheni Tsikhantsou 176 178 183183 214 219 228 219 402 4 Garik Karapetyan 180 186 186186 212 218 218212 398 5 Irakli Chkheidze 171 176 179 179 214 214 224214 393 6 Lesman Paredes 181 186 188181 211 218 218211 392 7 Ramiro Mora Romero 161 166 168166 201 206 210 210 376 8 Wesley Kitts 167 172 177172 202 210 210202 374 9 Jang Yeon-hak 173 179 180173 200 211 221200 373 10 Davranbek Hasanbayev 180 187 188180 190 190 200190370 — Ahmed Abuzriba 164 169 170164 — — — — Fares El-Bakh 178 178 178— — — —— Don Opeloge 170 170 170— — — — —
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