In light of Liao Hui announcing the end of his weightlifting career [news here] I thought it was appropriate to re-upload one of his career highlights that I was fortunate enough to witness in person.
His insane 166kg Snatch World Record from the 2014 World Championships in Almaty.
More from Liao:
Original Footage before the 166kg were added in post production.
Great athlete! One of the very few contemporary weightlifters close and even exceeding results from the fantastic ’80s – his ~485 Sinclair for 359 total in Almaty is the best since 1988, and he has consistently kept these levels for years. I think he was the only one in modern times with a realistic chance to achieve magical 500 Sinclair with something like 169/202 for a 371 or so total in 69.
I’ll be missing Liao competing. He is really cool!
Very unfortunate to see him retire at just 28. Would have loved to see him having a go at his goal of 170/202. He is without a doubt (one of) the best weightlifter of this decade and his retirement therefore a big loss. But there’s Shi Zhiyong to look forward to, who will most likely continue the chinese dominance in the 69kg class.
It is an interesting desicion, especially when Olympics ring the door. I don’t know why did he retire from competition? And how is he going to maintain his career? As a coach? Somebody please enlight me.
Suffered knee injury and could not train.
Maybe…but from what I have read, injury might just be an excuse. There might be political reasons involved.
Injury is just an excuse. According to many Chinese media coverage the real reason is corruption and bureaucracy among upper weightlifting officials. Inside sources has reported Liao was seen in top top form doing 170 snatch/200 CL in early June but was informed that he will not be in Rio in mid-June. That’s why there is practically no trace of him after that. He announced retirement right away within the national team and left the team. He waited until 7/18 when the names are released officially to announce his retirement publicly. Liao retired out of frustration and hopelessness, not injury! It is understandable because a man that has been through what he’s been through really had nothing left. 8 year, he has given all he’s got for the hope to appear in another Olympics. With his dream shattered so is his career. What a pity!
Could you post the sources you read? I mean, they have to be incompetent on epic proportions to have the (state-sponsored) media covering their corruption literally as it unfolds. Typically, people are corrupt at the expense of small fry, but at the expense of Liao Hui? Undefeated imminent double Olympic champion, who is also on the People’s Liberation Army team? I dunno, but making double Olympic champions is a pretty big deal in China; the only male weightlifter so far is Zhan Xugang. They’d have to go through a LOT of people high up before they got the OK to replace an in-form Liao Hui. (I’m actually more inclined to believe that they made an error with his dosing and caused him to test positive, so they had to withdraw him rather than trading him just because Zhejiang wanted to be represented.) Shi Zhiyong’s a great athlete and I love seeing him lift, but if this news gets out, and it already has, it might turn him into a villain in the eyes of Chinese weightlifting fans. And what if he makes a mistake and fails to take gold? How’s he supposed to live then?
I actually wrote a very long post explaining what i read from this article and its comments http://sports.qq.com/a/20160718/032078.htm
But it is still pending for post after 5 hours!! Anyway, it seems that injury is an excuse and political manipulation is likely the cause.
The sources I mentioned are all in Chinese. This one from Tengxun Sport: http://xw.qq.com/sports/20160718032078, and this Baidu Chinese weightlifting forum: http://tieba.baidu.com/p/4654306007, which is the same forum that “leaked” out the Rio Chinese lifters a few days ago here on Allthingsgym that turned out to be true. These guys seem to have inside scoops from the national team. You are right that there is no confirmed answer from Liao himself why he missed Rio and decided to retire on the same day the Chinese delegate to Rio was official. However, based on what I have read, this is my theory: The media coverage above mentioned a not well-known policy from the Chinese Sports Committee that any athletes who were banned for PED from 2008 – 2012 for more than 6 months are not allowed to go to Rio. Liao falls in that category. However, many other athletes that are in that category, such as Ning Zetao in swimming, gets to go to Rio so obviously this is not really the reason. However, based on the people from the “Inside Scoop Forum” above this is what I believe happened.
Zhejiang province wanted Shi to be in Rio because that would make Shi the first Olympic champ from Ningbo city, which is the wealthiest city in Zhejiang. The local officials and sponsors from Ningbo would pay a lot to Zhejiang province official if they can find a way to put Shi in there. Zhejiang province has been a big sponsor in recent Chinese weightlifting events and has a group of excellent youngsters for China’s weightlifting future. Zhejiang officials used the policy mentioned above, all their connections, and enough bribery to put Shi in there. You mentioned Zhan Xugang, he is from Zhejiang too and I suspect he is part of the conspiracy to screw Liao so he can take some money and maintain status as the most successful lifter in China’s history. (Lu is going to tie him though…but if he let Liao win Rio, he has a legit shot at Tokyo, which would top him. He probably doesn’t want to see that happen.) Also, Yang Zhe is from Shandong province, which has always been a big weightlifting province with powerful connections inside the Chinese Sports Committee. They wanted at least one lifter from Shandong to go to Rio. That is why Yang Zhe is in there. That is why Liao was told he got cut in mid-June, despite 170+200 in training! I know this is only my theory but be real people, I am Chinese so I know how dark and corrupt Chinese politics can be. Yes it can come at the expense of anyone, even Liao Hui, if the price is right!
I agree. I think that is most likely what actually happened.
God damn, that’s incredibly depressing. Chinese people trying to tear other Chinese people down and stop China from getting double/triple Olympic Champions. Just for some stinking money! With home officials like this, you don’t need any foreign competitors! I cursed the Chinese woman who once won an Olympic gold medal in table tennis for Japan, but now, if Liao Hui appeared on the stage wearing foreign colors, I really wouldn’t know whether to cheer for him or for Shi. Alas, I believe that Liao is a strong weightlifter but stronger soldier who would never betray even the nation that betrays him.
LOL…It wouldn’t really matter who you cheer for in that case. Liao would annihilate Shi! If someone flight Liao there and let him compete just in time before the 69kg begins, he would put up 167+200 without any training in the last 2 months…that is what kind of legend Liao is. However, I do agree Liao is a true soldier with dignity. I remember his salute on the podium in 2008 to the Chinese flag. No better way to put it “stronger soldier who would never betray even the nation that betrays him!” He announced retirement on the day his name was not called to display his silent protest. He took a dagger right in the heart for his country!
Also, Realist. For your second question. Yes Shi Zhiyong has become a villain with many weightlifting fans voicing that they want to see him bomb out so this politic conspiracy crap will surface and people will do something about it. Well let me tell you what, it has already surfaced but I don’t know about if anyone will do anything about it. Given that the Zhou Jun conspiracy already happened once in London Olympics. Also, some reporters from various media outlet have vowed that they will not cover the 69kg competition unless the one representing China is Liao Hui!
Another tragic loss to the world of weightlifting and definitely one of the best lifter of the last 2 decades.
The decision is a bit odd I suppose with Rio nearby but an injury is an injury. The usual gossip/slander with drugs doesn’t really make sense considered how much potential he still has, how hard they’ve pushed Shi with recent comps (Houson & Asian championships) so the backup could be a bit taxed for Rio and lastly how much Liao Hui looked forward to a 2nd Olympic medal (based on his reaction from missing out on 2012).
And even if a injury, why quit the sport entirely? He’s popular so I wouldn’t think losing funding due to the injury could be it. My guess it whatever prevented him from participating in Rio just tanked the remaining interest he has in the sport as he has already dominated his weightclass and maybe he’s going to continue with whatever affiliation he has with the military.
I think there is an alternative motive. I have a feeling at 28.. he’s not actually done yet, and we may see him get the ‘itch’ again within the next… 4 years 🙂
Tl, DR: I think Liao Hui is most likely forced off Rio due to political reasons. He most likely was not injured (at least not in early June), and had announced retirement within the weightlifting team in the middle of June. His retirement allowed for other athletes to take his place, so that the province teams behind those athletes could benefit from potentially winning this olympics and many more to come.
The situation might be more complicated than we think. Here is an article in Chinese along with its discussion board (http://sports.qq.com/a/20160718/032078.htm). According to the article and what people talked about, it seemed that Liao Hui was forced off Rio due to either drug problem (which I think not likely) or political reason (which I think VERY likely).
A bit of translation from the article.
On 06/29, the Chinese Olympic team uniform was announced. Lu Xiaojun attended as the representative of Chinese weightlifting team, but the sponsoring ads featuring Liao Hui representing Chinese weightlifting team were taken off. On 07/02, Liao Hui hinted on his Weibo that he would enter a NEW battlefield and notifying a very famous retired Olympic gold medalist in Diving. On 07/06, Chinese weightlifting team had an open media day, yet Liao Hui was not training there. Coaches gave the excuse that he was injured and temporarily absent. On 07/07, Chinese weightlifting team was present for media relation and public etiquette training, yet Liao Hui was not present.
Liao Hui participated in the Chinese weightlifting team transition training at the beginning of June, and rumored to have snatched 170 kg in the first week of the transition. However, after 06/10, i.e. the second week of the transition, Liao Hui suspended his training and had not appeared in the team publicly. It was rumored that in the middle of June during a team meeting, Liao Hui had ALREADY announced retirement to the team.
Liao Hui didn’t seem to want to retire, at least from an interview he did back in April after winning the National Weightlifting Competition. He said he wanted to win three gold metals in Olympics. Not just Rio, he also wanted to go for yet another Olympics and upgraded to 77 kg weight class after Lu Xiaojun retired (so I guess probably after Rio).
The comments from the discussion board suggested that Liao Hui was forced off Rio because somebody in the Chinese sports bureau wanted someone else to go to Rio. Now this is hitting “deep-water” politics stuff about China, which I have heard about in the past. I am by no means an expert in this area, but my guess is each athlete in the national team still represents interest of the province he/she belongs to. If he/she wins either Olympic or National gold, he/she will bring tremendous fame and financial benefit to the province. Therefore, each province would fight hard, sometimes politically, to put their own athlete on the Olympic team to anticipate a gold medal. Perhaps, in Liao Hui’s case, his province (but I guess his background is a bit more complicated considering he is also a soldier) failed to compete with another province in convincing the government to send him to Rio. Such failure could be due to, the following is complete speculation, lack of bribery or political influence. Or maybe, since Liao Hui is a soldier, he is more susceptible to political manipulation (soldier has to obey orders), and thus agree to whatever deal the government officials offered him. Or maybe it is purely the decision of the sports bureau with no provinces involved, in that the bureau wanted to even out the distribution of gold medals whenever possible. From the bureau’s point of view, letting different athletes from different provinces win gold boost up the sports nation-wide, without the fear that some province might get too strong and some too weak in the sports. This means if China has two top athletes, one of them better but already won an important gold, the other not as good but still competitive internationally for gold, the bureau will likely give the opportunity of the next big competition to the second best athlete to even out gold distribution. Definitely not fair to the better athlete, but it is not uncommon that the best has to be sacrificed sometimes in China.
Liao Hui will almost 99.9% get a gold medal in Rio. Shi Zhiyong also has a chance, though not as high as Liao Hui for sure. However, this means that Liao Hui is NOT indispensable in terms of a gold in 69 kg. Therefore, the government officials decided to gamble on Shi Zhiyong after weighing the pros and cons in terms of their own financial and political benefits. Liao Hui is most likely sacrificed for Chinese politics.
According to the discussion board of the article, Liao Hui is NOT the first weightlifter to have experienced political maneuvering. They listed many incidents in prior olympics where unknown lifters unexpectedly took place of well-known ones in big competitions, probably also due to politics. I have never looked into this, so would rather not make any comments. But it is a possibility. People also commented on suggesting Liao Hui change his nationality so that he would be able to compete again and slap the government officials on the face. Yet I don’t think that is possible, considering him still being a soldier and relatively famous in China.
Anyway, my take on Liao Hui’s case is that he was most likely forced off Rio due to political reasons. Then he lost faith in how the government officials manipulated the sports in China, and decided to retire. Or, he might have reached some deals with the officials. He used retirement to get something in return. It’s a dark and deep world in Chinese sports bureau.
Great, Fanchen. This is the same article I referenced in my reply to Realist. Yes dark incidents like that has already happened many times, most recently from London Olympics. Does Zhou Jun ring any bell people? She bombed out in the B group! The reason why she’s in there is all politics. (Another long essay which I don’t want to go into here) Zhou Jun and Liao Hui are from the same province, Hubei. You guys think this is an coincidence? I think not.
I do realize that politics pays a role in most things but I never figured that the rabbit-hole was that deep and they would even gamble on an Olympic gold medal when they have safe bets.
Do you guys know whether or not Lin Qingfeng is from any prominent providence? I’m wondering if Liao Hui also was politically implicated during his 1st doping offense that made him miss London and almost made him quit the sport at the time. It could also be a regular offense as it happened 2 years ahead of the OL games.
There was a rumor that Berestov was banned for a similar reason in 2006.
Lin Qingfeng is from Fujian province, which is also a big weightlifting province. Wu jingbao (56kg), Zhang Jie (62kg), and Lin Qingfeng (69kg) represented China in 2012 London Olympics are all from Fujian. However, according to available sources, the only reason Lin was in London 4 years ago was because 1) Liao was suspended, and 2) He won the 2012 national and Olympic trial. There was no politics involved that I know of in Liao missing 2012 other than he was suspended. (The only political reason might have been from IWF, where they want to break the Chinese dominance shown in Beijing..) However, when Liao was in the process of appealing his suspension, he is training with the national team at the same time. According to Liao’s own words from interviews, he had to pay for all his own expenses to train during his suspension but nonetheless was in optimal form (160+200) just before London 2012 while he was still suspended. The team had told him once his appeal was successful, he would immediately replace Lin for London, which makes a lot of sense because Lin’s winning total in London 157+187 would have been lighter than Liao’s openers had Liao is allowed to compete!
Then today, I wear black to mourn the fall of Liao Hui, a Chinese champion and hero, invincible year after year to all foreign challenge, but subdued by poison from within. What a black day for Chinese weightlifting and sports.