Weightlifter Maude Charron wins silver for second straight Olympic medal

Team Canada Opening Ceremony flag bearer Maude Charron has won her second straight Olympic medal, earning silver in women’s 59kg weightlifting at Paris 2024.

Charron came to Paris as an Olympic gold medallist, having won the 64kg event at Tokyo 2020. But that weight class was subsequently removed from the Olympic program, so she had to drop down five kilos.

But that was a challenge which Charron conquered over the last two years, culminating in her standing on the Olympic podium once again.

In Paris, Charron initially indicated she would enter the snatch portion of the competition with the weight at 98kg, but she pushed it back a few times, finally taking her first attempt at 101kg. Though her legs were a little shaky, she got the weight up successfully and gave a little wave to the crowd after her lift received the green light.

With a lift on the books, Charron went for 104kg on her second attempt and got it up even easier than her first, giving a fist pump as she walked away.

Her third and final snatch lift was 106kg, which went up smoothly, leading to a big smile from Charron and a double fist pump as she matched her Canadian record. She was in second place by one kilo after the snatch, as China’s Luo Shifang had hoisted 107kg.

Charron also had a strategically later entry into the clean and jerk portion of the competition, choosing to do her first lift at 126kg. It was well executed, again ensuring she had a weight on the books.

Her second clean and jerk attempt was at 130kg. Calm and steady, she got it up to match the Canadian record she set in March. With 236kg total, she also matched the weight she had lifted to win Olympic gold three years earlier when she herself had a greater body weight.

Charron had one attempt remaining, in which she went for 132kg. Though she got the barbell to her shoulders for the “clean”, she couldn’t complete the “jerk”, falling backwards to the floor, leaving her total at 236kg.

Luo, who had lifted 134kg in her second attempt at the clean and jerk totalled an Olympic record 241kg for the gold medal. Kuo Hsing-Chun of Chinese Taipei took bronze with a total of 235kg. She had been unable to catch Charron when she also failed on her final attempt.

Charron is the second Canadian weightlifter to win two Olympic medals, following Christine Girard who won a gold and a bronze.