Canada's Maude Charron takes silver as Luo Shifang gets China more Paris Olympic weightlifting gold

PARIS — With a silver medal hanging around her neck, Maude Charron cried. It was a much different moment than how she felt after winning gold in Tokyo in 2021.

The 31-year-old Canadian was overjoyed just to be back at the Olympics — a real one with fans, and not confined to a bubble. So coming in second to Luo Shifang of China in women's 59-kilogram weightlifting on Thursday simply put an exclamation point on a journey that included dealing with a knee injury and shedding more than 10 pounds just to compete.

“The medal is just the cherry on top,” Charron said. “I didn’t come here for a medal. I didn’t come here for a podium. All I wanted is the experience of the Olympics that I didn’t have in Tokyo. I had the perfect result in Tokyo. Now I just wanted the experience.”

Charron was the victim of two weight classes being eliminated between Tokyo and Paris, one of them the 64-kilogram (141-pound) division she won three years ago. She chose going down over up and, as a result, had to get down to 130 pounds.

At the beginning, she and her support group did not know which foods to limit and which to focus on, but by this week she was able to eat and felt confident enough that she ended up on the podium. Before receiving silver, she hugged bronze medalist Kuo Hsing-chun of Taiwan and raised her arms in the air when she stepped up.

This time, she was cheered rather than getting gold in an empty arena.

“It ended well, but I was still like, ‘Where’s my gang? Where’s my support system?’” Charron said. “So it was happiness but also — not regret — but sour maybe of I did all of that, it’s wonderful, but I’m alone. I felt alone. Here I felt so well surrounded.”

Luo, 23, gave China a third gold medal in weightlifting at the Paris Olympics. She set three Olympic records in her debut at the Games, lifting 107 kilograms (236 pounds) in the snatch and 137 kilograms (302 pounds) in the clean and jerk to finish with a score of 241 to Charron's 236 and Kuo's 235.

“I was super, super nervous but once I got on the stage, I didn’t think too much and then I made it happen,” Luo said. “At the moment I lifted, all I could think about was my country.”

Her country remains a powerhouse in weightlifting. Li Fabin won the men’s 61 kilograms, and Hou Zhihui won the women’s 49 kilograms on Wednesday.

China could add two more titles in Paris, with Shi Zhiyong in the men’s 73 kilograms later Thursday and Li Wenwen in the women’s +81 kilograms on Sunday. Each won Olympic gold three years ago.

On Thursday night, Rizki Juniansyah of Indonesia won in the men’s 73 kilograms with a score of 354, keeping China from going 4 for 4 in the opening weightlifting events. Weeraphon Wichuma of Thailand got silver with a score of 346 and Bozhidar Andreev of Bulgaria bronze at 344.

Muhammed Furkan Özbek of Turkey, who was allowed to compete after the Court of Arbitration for Sport dismissed an application by Spanish weightlifter David Sánchez López asking for a ban on all members of the Turkish Weightlifting Federation, was fourth.