Luo Shifang (; born 2 April 2001) is a Chinese weightlifter. Born in Guiyang County, she started weightlifting when she was twelve for her physical fitness. She first competed at the 2017 Asian Youth & Junior Weightlifting Championships where she won a gold in the youth division.
Luo made her senior debut at the 2022 World Weightlifting Championships, where she placed fourth. She returned at the 2023 Asian Weightlifting Championships and placed first, winning the world championships in the same year. She set her first world record at the 2024 IWF World Cup with 248 kg. At the 2024 Summer Olympics, she won the gold medal in her event and set three new Olympic records.
Early and personal life Luo Shifang was born on 2 April 2001 in Haitang Village in Guiyang County of Hunan, China. When she was twelve, she was influenced by her family to start weightlifting to improve her physical fitness. For her higher education, she majored in sports training at the College of Physical Education in Southwest University and graduated in 2021. As of 2024, she resides in Beijing.
Career
2017 Luo's first International Weightlifting Federation-sanctioned competition was the 2017 Asian Youth & Junior Weightlifting Championships in Kathmandu, Nepal. She competed in the women's 58 kg category in both divisions, where she snatched 85 kg and clean and jerked 110 kg for a total of 195 kg. She placed fourth in the junior division and placed first in the youth division.
2020–2022 Prior to her senior international debut, Luo won the 2020 and 2021 National Women's Weightlifting Championship, setting a national record in the snatch in the latter. She also won the women's 59 kg event at the 2021 National Games of China with a total of 241 kilograms, which would have surpassed the junior world record at the time. She made her senior international debut at the 2022 World Weightlifting Championships in Bogotá, Colombia. In the women's 59 kg event, she snatched 101 kg and clean and jerked 129 kg for a total of 230 kg, placing fourth overall. Although she did not win a medal for the total lift, she won the bronze in the clean and jerk.
2023–present Five months after her world championship appearance, Luo returned in April 2023 for the 2023 Asian Weightlifting Championships in Jinju, South Korea, competing in the women's 59 kg event. She snatched 105 kg and clean and jerked 133 kg for a total of 238 kg. Alongside the gold medal for the overall lift, she won a gold medal in the snatch and a silver medal in the clean and jerk. She then competed at the 2023 World Weightlifting Championships in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in September. In the same category, she snatched 107 kg and clean and jerked 136 kg for a total of 243 kg, winning all three of the available gold medals in her event. In the same month, she competed at the 2022 Asian Games which were rescheduled to 2023 and were held in Hangzhou, China. She snatched 107 kg and clean and jerked 133 kg for a total of 240 kg, placing second behind Kim Il-gyong of North Korea.
Luo's last competition in 2023 was the 2023 IWF Grand Prix II in Doha, Qatar, in December. She snatched 108 kg and clean and jerked 139 kg for a total of 247 kg and the gold medal, which equaled the world record at the time held by Kuo Hsing-Chun of Chinese Taipei. She then competed in the 2024 IWF World Cup in Phuket, Thailand, in April, as a qualifying event for the Olympic Games. She lifted 108 kg in the snatch, 140 kg in the clean and jerk, and finished with a total of 248 kg to win the overall gold medal and her first total world record.
At the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France, Luo competed in the women's 59 kg event. Coming into the event, she was ranked first in the qualification ranking, and publications such as Sports Illustrated and Rappler predicted that Luo would be a medal contender in the event, with the former predicting she would win gold. She lifted 107 kg in the snatch, 134 kg in the clean and jerk, and finished with a total of 241 kg for the gold medal. She also set new Olympic records in snatch, clean and jerk, and total, breaking those originally held by Kuo. The Olympic Council of Asia later opined that she had "entertained" the crowd due to her hand gestures to make the crowd silent during her attempts.
Achievements + Competition summary Year Venue Weight Snatch (kg) Clean and jerk (kg) Total Rank 1 2 3 Rank 1 2 3 Rank Olympic Games 2024 Paris, France 59 kg 101 105 107 129 134 137 241 World Championships 2022 Bogotá, Colombia 59 kg 101 104 104 5 126 129 133 230 4 2023 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia 59 kg 101 104 107 128 133 136 243 IWF World Cup 2024 Phuket, Thailand 59 kg 103 108 108 133 140 140 248 CWR Asian Games2023 Hangzhou, China 59 kg 100 104 107 128 133 140 240 Asian Championships2023 Jinju, South Korea 59 kg 98 102 105 126 130 133 238
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