Featherweight (≤60 kilograms), Men

The featherweight division were the only weightlifting event in which a medallist from the 1983 World Championships was competing. That honor went to Gelu Radu of Romania, who had won bronze in Moscow, and was therefore one of the favorites. Defending world champion was Yuri Sarkisyan, the 1980 silver medallist in the bantamweight who would later represent Australia. Runner-up had been Stefan Topurov, who would break the world record in the event with 322.5 kg at the Friendship Games, the communist alternative to the LA Olympics. Even more impressively, Topurov lifted three times his own bodyweight in the clean & jerk, for a total of 185 kg.

The competition opened with a close first event, as Chen Weiqiang, Radu and Tsai Wen-Yee all snatched 125 kg. Tsai was the first to fail in the clean & jerk, lifting only 147.5 kg, although that would eventually suffice for bronze. Radu managed a 155, but this was topped with 157.5 by Chen. This result meant that Chen (of the People’s Republic of China) and Tsai (of the Republic of China, but representing Chinese Taipei at the Olympics) would be standing on the podium together. This did not prove a problem, and the athletes waved to the crowd hand-in-hand.