Born: 1983 (Qinhuangdao, Hebei Province)
Biography:
Cao Lei (Chinese: 曹磊; pinyin: Cáo Lěi) is a Chinese weightlifter born on December 24, 1983, in Qinhuangdao, Hebei Province. She grew up in northeastern Heilongjiang Province. Cao Lei’s journey in weightlifting began at the age of 11 when she started her training. In 1997, she was selected to join the Heilongjiang province weightlifting team, coached by Qixi Fu.
In 2001, Cao Lei made her debut on the international stage after winning the national championships in the Asian Championships 63-kilogram category. She won gold with a result of 107.5 kg in snatch, which was a junior world record at the time, and 127.5 kg in clean and jerk, totaling 235 kg. The following year, she joined the national team under the supervision of Ma Wenhui and moved to the 69-kilogram weight class. In this new category, she won the junior world championships in 2003 with a performance of 105+140 kg.
Cao Lei’s success continued in 2005 when she finished fourth in the National games and later won gold in the East Asian Games. In 2006, she moved up one weight class to the women’s -75 kg category and competed in the 2006 World Weightlifting Championships. There, she clinched the gold medal by snatching 118 kg and clean and jerking an additional 150 kg for a total of 268 kg. The same year, she also won gold in the Asian Games, achieving a new personal record of 120 kg in the snatch and 152 kg in the clean and jerk.
At the 2007 World Weightlifting Championships, Cao Lei once again secured the gold medal in the women’s -75 kg category by lifting a total of 286 kg. Her dominance continued at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, where she won China’s seventh weightlifting gold medal in the women’s -75 kg division. Cao Lei set new Olympic records in both the snatch and clean and jerk events, with lifts of 128 kg (282.2 pounds) and 154 kg (339.5 pounds), respectively. Her total score of 282 kg (621.7 pounds) also set a new overall record. Although she attempted to break the total world record in her final jerk attempt with a request for 159 kg (350.5 pounds), she was unsuccessful.
During a news conference after her Olympic victory, Cao Lei expressed her emotions and dedicated her win to the people of China and her late mother, who had passed away two months earlier. She said, This very gold medal is dedicated to the people of my motherland. It is also dedicated to my dear mother who passed away not a long time ago.
In 2009, Cao Lei completed her weightlifting grand slam by winning gold in the Chinese National Games with a result of 125 kg.
Awards:
– Olympic gold medal in Women’s -75 kg weightlifting at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games