The 1981 European Weightlifting Championships were held in Lille, France, from September 13 to September 20, 1981. This was the 60th edition of the event. There were 149 men in action from 25 nations. This tournament was a part of 1981 World Weightlifting Championships.

Medal summary

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
52 kg
Snatch	Kanybek Osmonaliyev  Soviet Union	110.0 kg	Jacek Gutowski  Poland	110.0 kg	Bela Olah  Hungary	105.0 kg
Clean & Jerk	Kanybek Osmonaliyev  Soviet Union	137.5 kg	Jacek Gutowski  Poland	130.0 kg	Bela Olah  Hungary	130.0 kg
Total	Kanybek Osmonaliyev  Soviet Union	247.5 kg	Jacek Gutowski  Poland	240.0 kg	Bela Olah  Hungary	235.0 kg
56 kg
Snatch	Andreas Letz  East Germany	120.0 kg	Anton Kodzhabashev  Bulgaria	117.5 kg	Nikolay Zakharov  Soviet Union	117.5 kg
Clean & Jerk	Anton Kodzhabashev  Bulgaria	155.0 kg	Andreas Letz  East Germany	152.5 kg	Nikolay Zakharov  Soviet Union	147.5 kg
Total	Anton Kodzhabashev  Bulgaria	272.5 kg	Andreas Letz  East Germany	272.5 kg	Nikolay Zakharov  Soviet Union	265.0 kg
60 kg
Snatch	Beloslav Manolov  Bulgaria	132.5 kg	Yurik Sarkisyan  Soviet Union	130.0 kg	Wiesław Pawluk  Poland	127.5 kg
Clean & Jerk	Beloslav Manolov  Bulgaria	170.0 kg WR	Yurik Sarkisyan  Soviet Union	165.0 kg	Andreas Behm  East Germany	157.5 kg
Total	Beloslav Manolov  Bulgaria	302.5 kg WR	Yurik Sarkisyan  Soviet Union	295.0 kg	Andreas Behm  East Germany	282.5 kg
67.5 kg
Snatch	Daniel Senet  France	150.0 kg	Joachim Kunz  East Germany	150.0 kg	Mincho Pashov  Bulgaria	147.5 kg
Clean & Jerk	Joachim Kunz  East Germany	190.0 kg	Mincho Pashov  Bulgaria	182.5 kg	Karl-Heinz Radschinsky  West Germany	175.0 kg
Total	Joachim Kunz  East Germany	340.0 kg	Mincho Pashov  Bulgaria	330.0 kg	Daniel Senet  France	320.0 kg
75 kg
Snatch	Yanko Rusev  Bulgaria	157.5 kg	Aleksandr Pervy  Soviet Union	155.0 kg	Jürgen Negwer  West Germany	150.0 kg
Clean & Jerk	Yanko Rusev  Bulgaria	202.5 kg	Aleksandr Pervy  Soviet Union	202.5 kg	Hermann Kubenka  East Germany	190.0 kg
Total	Yanko Rusev  Bulgaria	360.0 kg WR	Aleksandr Pervy  Soviet Union	357.5 kg	Jürgen Negwer  West Germany	340.0 kg
82.5 kg
Snatch	Yurik Vardanyan  Soviet Union	170.0 kg	Asen Zlatev  Bulgaria	170.0 kg	Janusz Alchimowicz  Poland	160.0 kg
Clean & Jerk	Yurik Vardanyan  Soviet Union	222.5 kg	Dušan Poliačik  Czechoslovakia	210.0 kg	Asen Zlatev  Bulgaria	202.5 kg
Total	Yurik Vardanyan  Soviet Union	392.5 kg	Asen Zlatev  Bulgaria	372.5 kg	Dušan Poliačik  Czechoslovakia	367.5 kg
90 kg
Snatch	Blagoy Blagoev  Bulgaria	185.0 kg WR	Yury Zakharevich  Soviet Union	180.0 kg	Andrzej Piotrowski  Poland	167.5 kg
Clean & Jerk	Blagoy Blagoev  Bulgaria	220.0 kg	Yury Zakharevich  Soviet Union	217.5 kg	Lubomir Usherov  Bulgaria	212.5 kg
Total	Blagoy Blagoev  Bulgaria	405.0 kg WR	Yury Zakharevich  Soviet Union	397.5 kg	Lubomir Usherov  Bulgaria	380.0 kg
100 kg
Snatch	Viktor Sots  Soviet Union	182.5 kg	András Hlavati  Hungary	177.5 kg	Bruno Matykiewicz  Czechoslovakia	175.0 kg
Clean & Jerk	Viktor Sots  Soviet Union	225.0 kg	Veselin Osikovski  Bulgaria	217.5 kg	Bruno Matykiewicz  Czechoslovakia	217.5 kg
Total	Viktor Sots  Soviet Union	407.5 kg	Bruno Matykiewicz  Czechoslovakia	392.5 kg	Veselin Osikovski  Bulgaria	387.5 kg
110 kg
Snatch	Vyacheslav Klokov  Soviet Union	185.0 kg	Valery Kravchuk  Soviet Union	180.0 kg	Plamen Asparukhov  Bulgaria	180.0 kg
Clean & Jerk	Valery Kravchuk  Soviet Union	235.0 kg	Anton Baraniak  Czechoslovakia	227.5 kg	Plamen Asparukhov  Bulgaria	225.0 kg
Total	Valery Kravchuk  Soviet Union	415.0 kg	Vyacheslav Klokov  Soviet Union	410.0 kg	Plamen Asparukhov  Bulgaria	405.0 kg
+110 kg
Snatch	Anatoly Pisarenko  Soviet Union	187.5 kg	Rudolf Strejček  Czechoslovakia	187.5 kg	Antonio Krastev  Bulgaria	185.0 kg
Clean & Jerk	Anatoly Pisarenko  Soviet Union	237.5 kg	Senno Salzwedel  East Germany	237.5 kg	Tadeusz Rutkowski  Poland	232.5 kg
Total	Anatoly Pisarenko  Soviet Union	425.0 kg	Senno Salzwedel  East Germany	417.5 kg	Tadeusz Rutkowski  Poland	415.0 kg

Medal table

Ranking by Big (Total result) medals

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Soviet Union (URS)	5	4	1	10
2	Bulgaria (BUL)	4	2	3	9
3	East Germany (GDR)	1	2	1	4
4	Czechoslovakia (TCH)	0	1	1	2
	Poland (POL)	0	1	1	2
6	France (FRA)	0	0	1	1
	Hungary (HUN)	0	0	1	1
	West Germany (FRG)	0	0	1	1
Totals (8 entries)		10	10	10	30