Lydia Valentín

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Valentín and the second or maternal family name is Pérez.

Lydia Valentín Pérez^[1][2][3][4] (born 10 February 1985) is a Spanish retired^[5] 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.^[6] 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.^[3][7][8]

Lydia Valentín

Valentín in 2008
Personal information
Full name	Lydia Valentín Pérez
Nationality	Spanish
Born	(1985-02-10) 10 February 1985 (age 40) Ponferrada, Spain
Years active	2002–2023
Height	1.69 m (5 ft 7 in)
Weight	78.80 kg (174 lb)
Website	LydiaValentin.com
Sport
Country	Spain
Sport	Weightlifting
Event	–81 kg
Club	Cas-Leonesa, CLE
Coached by	Matías Fernández
Achievements and titles
Personal bests	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 2012 London –75 kg 2008 Beijing –75 kg 2016 Rio de Janeiro –75 kg World Championships 2017 Anaheim –75 kg 2018 Ashgabat –81 kg 2019 Pattaya –81 kg 2013 Wrocław –75 kg European Championships 2014 Tel Aviv –75 kg 2015 Tbilisi –75 kg 2017 Split –75 kg 2018 Bucharest –75 kg 2008 Lignano –75 kg 2009 Bucharest –75 kg 2012 Antalya –75 kg 2013 Tirana –75 kg 2019 Batumi –76 kg 2007 Strasbourg –75 kg 2010 Minsk –75 kg 2011 Kazan –75 kg Mediterranean Games 2013 Mersin -75kg 2018 Tarragona -75 kg

Career

At the 2007 World Championships, she ranked sixth in the 75 kg category with a total of 240 kg.^[9]

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.^[10][11] In 2017, Lydia won the World Weightlifting Championship held in Anaheim, United States.^[3]

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.^[9]

Olympics

In the 75 kg category at the 2008 Summer Olympics, Valentín finished in fifth place with a 250 kg total.^[12][13] In 2016, retests of samples from the 75 kg category at the 2008 Olympics returned positive results for the original gold medalist Cao Lei^[14] and bronze medalist Nadezhda Evstyukhina.^[15] Both were disqualified, and Valentín was awarded the silver medal.^[16][17]

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.^[4][18][19] Valentín was declared the Olympic Champion, and in March 2019, she was awarded her gold medal.^[20]

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).^[21][22]

In 2021, she competed in the women's 87 kg event at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.^[23]

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
2012	London, United Kingdom	75 kg	115	115	120	1	140	145	148	1	265
2016	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	75 kg	112	116	116	2	135	138	141	3	257
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		138	146	146		260
2014	Almaty, Kazakhstan	75 kg	120	120	124		140	147	148	4	264	4
2015	Houston, United States	75 kg	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
2017	Anaheim, United States	75 kg	110	115	118		130	135	140		258
2018	Ashgabat, Turkmenistan	81 kg	108	110	113		130	136	136		249
2019	Pattaya, Thailand	81 kg	105	108	112	5	130	134	138		246
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		125	130	132	4	247
2008	Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy	75 kg	110	115	118		130	135	135		245
2009	Bucharest, Romania	75 kg	112	117	120		132	132	132		252
2010	Minsk, Belarus	75 kg	110	115	115		132	137	140		255
2011	Kazan, Russia	75 kg	112	117	122		132	142	146		264
2012	Antalya, Turkey	75 kg	112	117	123		135	143	146		260
2013	Tirana, Albania	75 kg	115	120	124		135	140	142		260
2014	Tel Aviv, Israel	75 kg	115	120	121		137	144	147		268
2015	Tbilisi, Georgia	75 kg	112	116	118		135	141	145		263
2017	Split, Croatia	75 kg	112	115	118		132	137	–		252
2018	Bucharest, Romania	75 kg	107	112	115		130	135	140		250
2019	Batumi, Georgia	76 kg	105	108	110		130	133	136		241
Mediterranean Games
2013	Mersin, Turkey	75 kg	112	115	120		135	140	145		265	–
2018	Tarragona, Spain	75 kg	105	110	112		130	137	--		249	–

See also

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