A chapter of weightlifting history is closing. On Saturday, Apr. 6, 2024, Olympic silver medalist and World Champion Tian Tao announced his retirement from the game of weightlifting — internationally, at the least.
Tao’s announcement hit social media shortly after the conclusion of the Men’s 89-kilogram Group A session on the 2024 IWF World Cup in Phuket, Thailand. The Cup runs from Mar. 31 to Apr. 11 and is the ultimate opportunity to qualify for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France, later this summer.
According to the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF), Tao, 29, began his weightlifting profession at just 10 years of age, studying alongside a lot of China’s best athletes. Tao’s international profession kicked off in 2013 and he’s been a fixture inside Men’s weightlifting ever since.
Prior to the commencement of this 12 months’s World Cup, Tao was considered an out of doors pick to represent China on the 2024 Olympics. Like all countries, Team China may only elect three male athletes to compete in any of the five Paris-recognized weight classes (and just one athlete per category).
When the last-chance qualifier began, Tao’s teammate (and world-record holder within the Total) Li Dayin sat atop the IWF’s qualification rating leaderboards within the 89-kilogram division. In order to be eligible for Paris, Tao needed to exceed Dayin’s best Total of 396 kilograms.
Tao competed valiantly against each Dayin and Bulgarian prodigy Karlos Nasar, but couldn’t muster the strength required for a Total above 396 kilograms:
After securing a 171-kilogram snatch, Tao needed 226 kilograms within the clean & jerk — a brand new 89-kilogram world record — to achieve a 397-kilogram Total and dislodge Dayin.
He took two courageous attempts at the load, a number he’d conquered in years past in heavier weight classes, but couldn’t secure his barbell overhead. Nasar won the 89s, matching Dayin’s 396 in the method. Dayin himself finished with a modest 383.
The 89-kilogram event in Phuket was a “bloodbath,” in response to on-site commentators. Of the 11 Group-A athletes who competed in an try to win a ticket to Paris, only 4 registered a Total.
While Tao won’t see the stage at his second Olympic Games, he’s regardless forsaking a commendable, decade-plus profession in international weightlifting. Adoringly nicknamed “Heart Attack” for his coin-flip success rate on the lifting platform, Tao has filled his medal cabinet with loads of hardware, and sometimes by the skin of his teeth.
Here are a few of Tao’s most impressive achievements in weightlifting:
Tao also boasts a few of the strongest legs in weightlifting, and is legendary for his extraordinary prowess in the front and back squat, in addition to the clean.
His international profession began in an “earlier era” of the game, alongside all-time Chinese greats like Lu Xiaojun and Liao Hui, each of whom have since retired as well.
On social media, Tao specified that he’ll now not pursue competition in weightlifting on the international level. However, in response to correspondent Brian Oliver, an unnamed source inside the Chinese Weightlifting Association (CWA) made the next remarks on Apr. 6 about Tao’s future:
“He’s said goodbye to international competition, but he has not retired from weightlifting.”
Tao is predicted to perform on stage on the fifteenth National Games of China in 2025.
Tao will even have a good time his thirtieth birthday in only two days (from the time of this text’s publication) on Apr. 8. congratulates Tao on a spectacular weightlifting profession and needs him well in his future endeavors. Oh, and completely satisfied birthday!
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