Lydia Valentín facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Lydia Valentín

Valentín in 2008
Personal information
Nationality	Spanish
Born	(1985-02-10) 10 February 1985 (age 39) Ponferrada, Spain
Years active	2002–2023
Height	1.69 m
Weight	78.80 kg
Sport
Country	Spain
Sport	Weightlifting
Event(s)	–81 kg
Club	Cas-Leonesa, CLE
Coached by	Matías Fernández
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	Snatch: 124 kg (2014, Almaty) Clean & Jerk: 147 kg (2014, Tel Aviv) Total: 268 kg (2014, Tel Aviv)
Medal record Women's weightlifting Representing  Spain Olympic Games Gold 2012 London –75 kg Silver 2008 Beijing –75 kg Bronze 2016 Rio de Janeiro –75 kg World Championships Gold 2017 Anaheim –75 kg Gold 2018 Ashgabat –81 kg Silver 2019 Pattaya –81 kg Bronze 2013 Wrocław –75 kg European Championships Gold 2014 Tel Aviv –75 kg Gold 2015 Tbilisi –75 kg Gold 2017 Split –75 kg Gold 2018 Bucharest –75 kg Silver 2008 Lignano –75 kg Silver 2009 Bucharest –75 kg Silver 2012 Antalya –75 kg Silver 2013 Tirana –75 kg Silver 2019 Batumi –76 kg Bronze 2007 Strasbourg –75 kg Bronze 2010 Minsk –75 kg Bronze 2011 Kazan –75 kg Mediterranean Games Gold 2013 Mersin -75kg Gold 2018 Tarragona -75 kg

Lydia Valentín Pérez (born 10 February 1985) is a Spanish retired weightlifter, Olympic Champion, 2 time World Champion and 4 time European Champion competing in the 75 kg category until 2018 and 81 kg starting in 2018 after the International Weightlifting Federation reorganized the categories. Lydia has won three Olympic Medals (Silver in 2008, Gold in 2012 and Bronze in 2016), two World Weightlifting Championships (2017 and 2018), as well as four European Weightlifting Championships.

Career

At the 2007 World Championships, she ranked sixth in the 75 kg category with a total of 240 kg.

At the 2013 World Championships, she won bronze in the snatch and placed fourth in the total, being promoted to silver and bronze respectively when Olga Zubova was disqualified for failing a doping test. In 2017, Lydia won the World Weightlifting Championship held in Anaheim, United States.

At the European Championships, she won four gold medals for the total in 2014, 2015, 2017 and 2018 three silver medals (in 2008, 2012 and 2013) and three bronze medals (in 2007, 2009 and 2011), with three gold and four silver medals in the snatch, and two gold, one silver and five bronze medals in the clean and jerk.

Olympics

In 2008, Valentín competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in the 75 kg category finishing in fifth place at the time of competition with a 250 kg total. In 2016, retests of samples from the 75 kg category at the 2008 Olympics returned positive results for the original gold medalist Cao Lei and bronze medalist Nadezhda Evstyukhina. Both were disqualified, and Valentín was awarded the silver medal.

In 2012, Valentín competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the 75 kg category, and finished in fourth place with a 265 kg total, behind the eight new Olympic Records set by Svetlana Podobedova and Natalia Zabolotnaya. In 2016, during retests, all three original medalists returned positive results, thus disqualifying them. Valentín was declared the Olympic Champion, and in March 2019, she was awarded her gold medal.

In 2016, while waiting for confirmation of these medals, Valentín had competed in the 2016 Olympics, where she lifted a total of 257 kg and won the bronze medal. It was, at the time, Spain's first medal ever in weightlifting (retrospectively third).

In 2021, she competed in the women's 87 kg event at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.

Major results

Year	Venue	Weight	Snatch (kg)				Clean & Jerk (kg)				Total	Rank
			1	2	3	Rank	1	2	3	Rank
Olympic Games
2008	Beijing, China	75 kg	110	110	115	2	130	135	138	3	250	2
2012	London, United Kingdom	75 kg	115	115	120	1	140	145	148	1	265	1
2016	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	75 kg	112	116	116	2	135	138	141	3	257	3
2020	Tokyo, Japan	87 kg	100	103	106	10	122	–	–	11	225	10
World Championships
2002	Warsaw, Poland	63 kg	80	80	80	–	92.5	92.5	120	13	–	–
2005	Doha, Qatar	75 kg	100	105	107	7	115	115	120	13	220	11
2006	Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic	75 kg	100	100	100	13	120	120	120	–	–	–
2007	Chiang Mai, Thailand	75 kg	105	110	115	5	125	130	135	5	240	6
2009	Goyang, South Korea	75 kg	112	118	119	4	130	136	136	9	242	6
2010	Antalya, Turkey	75 kg	112	112	117	6	135	135	135	–	–	–
2011	Paris, France	75 kg	112	117	120	4	133	138	142	7	258	5
2013	Wrocław, Poland	75 kg	117	122	122	2	138	146	146	3	260	3
2014	Almaty, Kazakhstan	75 kg	120	120	124	3	140	147	148	4	264	4
2015	Houston, United States	75 kg	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
2017	Anaheim, United States	75 kg	110	115	118	1	130	135	140	1	258	1
2018	Ashgabat, Turkmenistan	81 kg	108	110	113	1	130	136	136	3	249	1
2019	Pattaya, Thailand	81 kg	105	108	112	5	130	134	138	3	246	2
European Championships
2005	Sofia, Bulgaria	75 kg	100	100	105	6	110	115	120	7	215	6
2006	Władysławowo, Poland	75 kg	103	103	108	5	118	122	125	7	225	7
2007	Strasbourg, France	75 kg	105	110	115	2	125	130	132	4	247	3
2008	Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy	75 kg	110	115	118	2	130	135	135	3	245	2
2009	Bucharest, Romania	75 kg	112	117	120	1	132	132	132	2	252	2
2010	Minsk, Belarus	75 kg	110	115	115	3	132	137	140	3	255	3
2011	Kazan, Russia	75 kg	112	117	122	3	132	142	146	3	264	3
2012	Antalya, Turkey	75 kg	112	117	123	1	135	143	146	2	260	2
2013	Tirana, Albania	75 kg	115	120	124	2	135	140	142	2	260	2
2014	Tel Aviv, Israel	75 kg	115	120	121	1	137	144	147	1	268	1
2015	Tbilisi, Georgia	75 kg	112	116	118	1	135	141	145	1	263	1
2017	Split, Croatia	75 kg	112	115	118	2	132	137	–	1	252	1
2018	Bucharest, Romania	75 kg	107	112	115	1	130	135	140	1	250	1
2019	Batumi, Georgia	76 kg	105	108	110	1	130	133	136	2	241	2
Mediterranean Games
2013	Mersin, Turkey	75 kg	112	115	120	01	135	140	145	01	265	–
2018	Tarragona, Spain	75 kg	105	110	112	01	130	137	--	01	249	–

See also

In Spanish: Lydia Valentín para niños

• List of Olympic medalists in weightlifting
• List of World Championships medalists in weightlifting
• List of European Championships medalists in weightlifting