On the first day of weightlifting at the 2024 Olympics, I watched Mihaela-Valentina Cambei do something unheard of. Cambei, a 21-year-old Olympic lifter from Romania, put Team China, the world’s most dominant contingent, up against the ropes.
World record holder and 2020 Olympic Champion Hou Zhihui would ultimately win her second Olympic title (whilst inking her name in the record books, again) in the 49-kilogram division. But Cambei, a legitimate “Who?” when Zhihui was competing in Tokyo, gave her a real run for her money.
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Cambei was in the driver’s seat for most of the weightlifting event in Paris, a seat usually reserved for [Chinese weightlifter competing in that category]. She was bumped back to silver in Paris by a single kilogram, but Cambei should hardly mope about it; she’s the first Romanian woman to win a medal in the sport’s lightest Olympic division.
Her world-class performance convinced me — and probably most of the audience — that Cambei is a bonafide star in the making.
Weightlifter Mihaela Cambei (49KG)
Cambei has built her reputation upon a few specific traits. She sets herself apart from the pack at international weightlifting meets with her long, swishy blonde ponytail, more strength than she knows what to do with, and the fearless demeanor of a professional fire-eater.
To stand distinct from the world’s best 49-kilogram weightlifters, a notoriously competitive category, is no small feat. European women do not habitually dominate weightlifting at the world level.
- Of the 24 current women’s world records, 23 are held by Asian athletes. The lone exception belongs to Angie Dajomes of Ecuador, and will likely fall on Friday, Aug. 9.
Cambei’s competitive resume is a bit different from her colleagues in that her trajectory aims about as upward as you can wish for in a barbell-based sport.
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Here’s a rundown of Cambei’s competition appearances between the last Olympics (which she did not attend) and the morning of Aug. 7 in Paris:
- 2022 Junior European Championships: 189KG, 1st
- 2022 World Championships: 194KG, 4th
- 2023 European Championships: 198KG, 1st
- 2023 World Championships: 195KG, 5th
- 2024 European Championships: 199KG, 1st
- 2024 World Cup: 201KG, 2nd*
- 2024 Olympics: 205KG, 2nd
Look at gold medalist Zhihui’s resume and you’ll see much more uneven results. In fairness, Zhihui is quite literally at the top of the sport and has more mileage; plateaus are expected. But even among up-and-coming weightlifters, results like those turned in by Cambei in the last two years are remarkably uncommon.
- Cambei’s ascension is mirrored in a very, very small cohort of other active weightlifters, such as Team USA’s prodigy Olivia Reeves and Bulgarian Karlos Nasar.
Higher, Further, Faster
I don’t know if Cambei will continue to climb. Weightlifting is a meat grinder of a sport, and many of its brightest stars often burn out the fastest. On the other hand, she’s got a few things going for her:
- At 21, Cambei has years of good lifting ahead of her. She was the youngest athlete of 12 in Paris, a group whose average age was 25.
- Romania’s weightlifting industry is small but competent. Cambei is one of just two from the country to compete in Paris; her teammate, Loredana Toma, 29, boasts a similar reputation in the 71-kilogram division and has been competing internationally since 2009.
- Social media stardom — Cambei boasts nearly half a million followers on the ‘Gram — probably buoys her spirits and provides financial incentives as well.
Make no mistake, Cambei isn’t the best in the world. Her 205-kilogram Total is remarkable, but it’s 16 less than the world record held by North Korea’s Ri Song Gum. Gum and other weightlifters from the Democratic People’s Republic are not permitted to compete in Paris. Zhihui may have faltered at the Games, but she often turns in Totals comfortably above 210.
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If her luck holds and she doesn’t Icarus it up, we are likely to watch Cambei blossom into one of weightlifting’s next modern greats. The sport desperately needs athletes who can walk the walk on the platform while drawing attention to weightlifting as a whole.
Cambei checks both boxes, and she’s my very, very early pick for the podium in Los Angeles 2028.
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Featured Image: Weightlifting House / @weightlifting_house
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