Hou Zhihui

In this Chinese name, the family name is Hou.

Hou Zhihui (Chinese: 侯志慧; pinyin: Hóu Zhìhuì; born 18 March 1997) is a Chinese weightlifter, two-times Olympic champion, World champion, and two-time Asian champion competing in the women's 49 kg category.^[2]

Hou Zhihui

Hou in 2024
Personal information
Nationality	Chinese
Born	(1997-03-18) 18 March 1997 (age 28) Meitang Village, Zhangshi Town, Guiyang County, Chenzhou, Hunan, China[1]
Height	1.48 m (4 ft 10 in)
Weight	48.85 kg (108 lb)
Sport
Country	China
Sport	Weightlifting
Event	–49 kg
Club	Hunan Province
Medal record Olympic Games 2020 Tokyo –49 kg 2024 Paris –49 kg World Championships 2018 Ashgabat –49 kg 2019 Pattaya –49 kg 2023 Riyadh –49 kg 2022 Bogotá –49 kg Asian Championships 2019 Ningbo –49 kg 2020 Tashkent –49 kg 2023 Jinju –49 kg Junior World Championships 2015 Wroclaw –48 kg National Games of China 2017 Tianjin –48 kg 2021 Shaanxi –49 kg

As of 2021,^[update] she has set eleven senior world records throughout her career.^[3]

Career

She competed at the 2018 World Weightlifting Championships in the 49 kg division, winning silvers medals in all lifts,^[4] and setting two world records in the total.^[5]

In 2019 she competed at the 2019 IWF World Cup held in Fuzhou, China, in the 49 kg category. She swept gold medals in all lifts^[6] setting new world records in the snatch and total.

In 2021 at the 2020 Summer Olympics, she won China's second gold medal in women's 49 kg weightlifting, setting new Olympic records in the snatch, clean and jerk, and overall total, with 210 kilograms, which is three short of her world record from the 2020 Asian Weightlifting Championships.^[7]

She won the bronze medal in the women's 49 kg event at the 2022 World Weightlifting Championships held in Bogotá, Colombia.

In August 2024, she again competed in the women's 49 kg event at the 2024 Summer Olympics held in Paris, France. She placed second in the Snatch with 89 kg, but she broke the Olympic record in the Clean & Jerk, lifting 117 kg and overcame Romania's Mihaela Cambei with 1 kg ahead in total.

Debunked Doping Allegations

On 26 July 2021, Indian news outlet ANI falsely reported that Hou, the new Women's 49 kg weightlifting olympic champion, would be tested by the International Testing Agency (ITA) for doping, according to ANI's unnamed source. Huo had won gold against India's Mirabai Chanu, who won silver. The article claimed Mirabai Chanu would be upgraded to a gold medal if the tests were positive.^[8] This report was subsequently propagated across other news networks,^[9] including The Economic Times, Business Standard, India.com and Taiwan News.^[10][11][12] The World Anti-Doping Agency and ITA debunked the reports, saying they knew nothing of such tests being carried out and that any developments would be transparently reported on their site.^[13][14] On 30 July, ANI reported that no such test occurred, and claimed they made an "inadvertent error while reporting the news".^[15] As of 8 October, ANI's original false report remained on its website.^[16]

Major results

Year	Venue	Weight	Snatch (kg)				Clean & Jerk (kg)				Total	Rank
			1	2	3	Rank	1	2	3	Rank
Olympic Games
2021	Tokyo, Japan	49 kg	88	92	94 OR	1	109	114	116 OR	1	210 OR
2024	Paris, France	49 kg	89	89	93	2	110	117	117 OR	1	206
World Championships
2018	Ashgabat, Turkmenistan	49 kg	88	92	93		108	112	115		208 WR
2019	Pattaya, Thailand	49 kg	89	94	96		110	116	117		211 WR
2022	Bogotá, Colombia	49 kg	86	89	92		106	109	—	4	198
2023	Riyadh, Saudi Arabia	49 kg	89	93	95		111	116	119		211
IWF World Cup
2019	Fuzhou, China	49 kg	90	94 WR	96		111	116	—		210 WR
2024	Phuket, Thailand	49 kg	93	97 CWR	99		113	120	120		217
Asian Games
2023	Hangzhou, China	55 kg	90	95	97	—	110	115	—	—	210
Asian Championships
2019	Ningbo, China	49 kg	88	92	95		109	113	116		208
2021	Tashkent, Uzbekistan	49 kg	90	94	96 WR		110	115	117		213 WR
2023	Jinju, South Korea	49 kg	86	89	93		107	111	115		204