Flyweight (≤54 kilograms), Men

This was the last time this class would be contested at the Olympics, as it was dropped after 1996. The last three World Championships had been won by China’s Zhang Xiangsen (1995), Turkey’s Halil Mutlu (1994), and Bulgaria’s Ivan Ivanov (1993). Mutlu took the lead with a world record snatch of 132.5 kg, and maintained it with an Olympic record 155.0 kg in the clean & jerk to win the gold medal over Zhang. The bronze went to Bulgarian Sevdalin Minchev, who had the second best clean & jerk with 152.5 kg, as Ivanov struggled in the snatch, lifting only 112.5 kg, and finished sixth.

Mutlu was a native Bulgarian, born Huben Hubenov. Like his idol, Naim Süleymanoğlu, Mutlu was in the Muslim minority in Bulgaria, so he emigrated to Turkey to compete for that nation. He would win gold medals again in 2000 and 2004 as a bantamweight.