Tokyo 2020 marked by firsts, but recent scandals cloud outlook

Not a burden: Lasha Talakhadze of Georgia in action in the 109kg category. — Reuters

TOKYO: Weightlifting was marked by a series of breakthroughs at the Tokyo Olympics – the first openly transgender athlete to compete at any Games and the Philippine’s first gold ever – but recent doping scandals are clouding its outlook ahead of Paris 2024.

New Zealand’s Laurel Hubbard made history by becoming the first openly transgender athlete to compete at an Olympic Games in a different gender category to that assigned at birth, while Philippines’ Hidilyn Diaz became her country’s first ever Olympic gold medallist.China scooped up the most medals in the absence of powerful lifters from North Korea.