Flyweight (≤49 kilograms), Women

Traditionally, since 2004, the lightest weight class for women was also contested as the first weightlifting event at the Tokyo Olympics. It was also the second medal to be decided in all sports at these Games. As the weight classes changed in 2018, the body weight was now up to 49 kg as opposed to 48 kg in Rio five years before. The field of 14 athletes included Hou Zhihui, winner of the 2018 World Championships, silver medallist in 2019, winner of the last two Asian Championships in 2019 and 2020 (held in April 2021), and the current world record holder in snatch (96 kg) and total (213 kg). She set both records about three months before the Olympics, at the Asian Championships. At these Championships, a new world record in clean & jerk with 119 kg was also set by third placed Mirabai Chanu, but who was the 2017 world champion, and Commonwealth Games champion in 2018, with both events contested in the old 48 kg class, and she had a season best in total with 205 kg. Also present in this weight division was Jourdan Delacruz, season best in total 200 kg, the Pan American Championship winner in 2019 (55 kg) and 2020 (held April 2021). Beatriz Pirón, the 2019 Pan American Games champion, and Windy Aisah, junior world champion 2021, were also in the field. Ludia Montero, silver medallist at the 2019 World Championships in the non-Olympic -45 kg class was the only lifter from this weight class to qualify for Tokyo after moving up to this category. Of the medallists from Rio, only third-placed Hiromi Miyake, having also won silver in London, took part again on home soil and competed in her fifth Olympics.

As only one athlete per nation was allowed to compete Jiang Huihua, season best in total 207 kg, was absent from Tokyo. She was the 2014 Youth Olympics gold medallist and in 2019 retained her world title, where she set a world record in total, which was surpassed by her teammate Hou only three months before the Tokyo Olympics. Hayley Marie Reichardt (season best 189 kg) from the United States was unable to compete in Tokyo because of the one athlete per nation rule. The Thai gold medallist from Rio, Sopita Tanasan, and her compatriot Chayuttra Pramongkhol were both convicted of doping. Pramongkhol lost her gold medal from the 2018 World Championships and also the world records both lifters had set had been nullified. These were just two of the huge number of doping offences in Thailand, which led to them being one of four nations to be excluded from the weightlifting at the Tokyo Olympics. Another excluded nation was Romania, and this prevented the 2021 European champion Monica Csengeri from participating in Tokyo, but she had already tested positive in 2018. This made Kristina Sobol from Russia, qualification best 187 kg, the highest placed European competitor in this class. Originally qualified for this event was Vương Thị Huyền, but she was not nominated by her federation as Vietnam was restricted to one male and one female lifter over all classes as a result of 20 doping violations.

When the strongest snatcher, Hou, lifted 88 kg in her first attempt, only two other athletes were still competing, but both Chanu and Delacruz failed to lift 89 kg. Hou went on to lift 92 kg and 94 kg in her next attempts for a solid lead after snatch, with Chanu in second place with 87 kg followed by Delacruz (86 kg) and Aisah (84 kg). Hou was untouchable, and in clean & jerk lifted all her three attempts to finally clear 116 kg as she also cleared all three snatch attempts. She was the only lifter in this event to do so. The best clean & jerker, Chanu, failed to lift her last attempt for 117 kg, but she had already lifted 115 kg in her second try to secure a clear silver medal. As Delacruz failed to lift any weight in clean & jerk, she missed 108 kg three times, Aisah won bronze after clearing 110 kg for a total of 194 kg. The best lifter from group B, held in the morning, was the Cuban Montero, with a total of 178 kg, which finally placed her sixth.

The Olympic Standard for Olympic records was 89 kg for snatch, 111 kg for clean & jerk, and 198 kg for total. The snatch record was broken twice by Hou with 92 kg and 94 kg. The clean & jerk record was first reached by Hou with 114 kg, then bettered by Chanu with 115 kg, and finally went back to Hou with 116 kg. The total record was first set by Hou in her first clean & jerk attempt totalling 203 kg and increased by her to 208 kg and then to 210 kg.

This result meant China had started perfectly in the Tokyo weightlifting competition as they sought to once again top the medal standings, as they had done in all editions since 2000, winning five gold medals at each Games between then and Rio 2016. Chanu, the only weightlifter from India taking part in the Tokyo Games, won only the second ever Olympic weightlifting medal for her country after Karnam Malleswari, who won bronze back in 2000. Tokyo bronze medallist Aisah, born 11 June 2002, became the youngest weightlifting medallist at these Games aged 19 years 43 days. Finishing fifth, Nina Sterckx secured the best ever result by a female lifter from Belgium and sixth placed Montero gave Cuba their best ever female weightlifting finish. Also participating in this event was Dika Toua from Papua New Guinea who, after missing the 2016 Games, became, along with Japan’s Miyake, the first ever female weightlifter to compete in five Olympics. Both also equalled the participation record held by Imre Földi, Ingo Steinhöfel, and Ronny Weller.