Zhan Xugang

Personal information
Born	May 15, 1974 (1974-05-15) (age 49) Kaihua County, Zhejiang, China
Medal record Men's weightlifting Representing  China Olympic Games 1996 Atlanta –70 kg 2000 Sydney –77 kg World Championships 1995 Guangzhou –70 kg 1997 Chiang Mai –70 kg Asian Games 1994 Hiroshima –70 kg 1998 Bangkok –77 kg Asian Championships 1995 Busan –70 kg 1996 Yachiyo –70 kg 1999 Wuhan –77 kg 2000 Osaka –77 kg 2004 Almaty –77 kg East Asian Games 1997 Busan –70 kg Junior World Championships 1993 Cheb –70 kg 1994 Jakarta –70 kg Junior Asian Championships 1993 –70 kg National Games of China 1997 Shanghai –70 kg 2001 Guangdong –77 kg

Zhan Xugang (Chinese: 占旭刚; born May 15, 1974, in Kaihua County, Zhejiang) is a former male Chinese weightlifter and later politician who won the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games. He is the first Chinese weightlifter to win two consecutive Olympics.

Biography

Weightlifting career

Zhan Xugang was recruited for the Kaihua County Sports School weightlifting program at ten years of age. Due to his progress Zhan was selected for the Zhejiang provincial team in 1987, the same year he broke a national junior record. In 1993 while on the national junior team he was named "an outstanding Asian Junior weightlifter" and was selected to the senior team in January 1994. In 1996, at the Atlanta Olympic Games, Zhan Xugang won the gold medal and broke 3 World Records. In 1998, the International Weightlifting Federation implemented new weightlifting levels. Zhan Xugang entered the 77 kg class. Zhan was challenged as the levels of his competitors rose. At the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000, Zhan snatched 160 kg and ranked fourth in the competition. Despite the adverse circumstance, he was able to clean and jerk 207.5 kg, a personal record. This allowed him to total 367.5 kg and win gold. At the 2004 Games he missed all three snatch attempts in the men's 77 kg division and did not finish the competition.^[1] Afterwards he announced his retirement.

Political career

Going forward Zhan Xugang mainly engaged in sports management in Zhejiang Province as the deputy commander in charge of weightlifting, judo and taekwondo. In 2005 he became director of the sports department of the Career Technical College.

In 2008, Zhan was one of the torch bearers for the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics.

In the beginning of 2012, Zhan was promoted to vice president of Zhejiang sports of the Career Technical College and became the director of seven departments. In July 2015, he served as committee member for his home and was proposed to be the deputy governor of three counties.^[2]

Major results

Year	Venue	Weight	Snatch (kg)				Clean & Jerk (kg)				Total	Rank
			1	2	3	Rank	1	2	3	Rank
Olympic Games
1996	Atlanta, United States	70 kg	155	160	162.5	1	190	192.5	195	1	357.7
2000	Sydney, Australia	77 kg	160.0	165.0	165.0	6	202.5	207.5	-	1	367.5
2004	Athens, Greece	77 kg	157.5	157.5	157.5	-	-	-	-	-	-	DNF
World Championships
1997	Chiang Mai, Thailand	70 kg	155.0	155.0	157.5		190.0	195.5	197.5		352.5
1998	Lahti, Finland	77 kg	155.0	155.0	160.0	—	200.0	200.0	202.5	4	—