Bantamweight (≤56 kilograms), Men

The last two World Championships had been won by Korean Jeon Byeong-Gwan (1991) and China’s Liu Shoubin (1990). Liu had been second to Jeon at the 1991 Worlds, followed by Chinese Luo Jianming. The 1992 Olympics would see the exact same podium as the 1991 Worlds, with Jeon winning gold, followed by Liu and Luo. Liu won the silver medal over Luo only based on bodyweight, as they both lifted a total of 277.5 kg. Jeon had been silver medalist as a flyweight in 1988, while Liu had won the bronze medal in this class at Seoul.