Rizki Juniansyah

Juniansyah grew up in a family with a strong background in weightlifting and began training as early as nine years old. His father, M. Yasin (1966–2024), a successful national weightlifter, represented Indonesia in five consecutive SEA Games from 1983 to 1993 and clinched bronze medals at the 1985 and 1987 SEA Games.^[7][8] His mother and two older siblings were also competitive weightlifters.^[9] His brother-in-law, Triyatno, who later became his coach, is a bronze and silver medalist at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics, respectively.^[10]

He began his career at a young age, winning gold medals at the 2017 and 2018 PPLP National Championships. Additionally, he has earned gold medals at the 2018 Youth Regional Sports Week, the 2018 Provincial Sports Week, and the 2021 National Sports Week, representing Banten.^[11]

By the age of 17, Juniansyah had achieved a remarkable feat by holding five youth and junior world records. In 2020, he set two youth world records with a 139 kg snatch (current) and 307 kg total lift at the 2020 Asian Youth & Junior Weightlifting Championships.^[12] Later that year, the Youth World Weightlifting Championships were cancelled due to COVID-19 and replaced by an online event called the IWF Youth World Cup.^[13] Juniansyah won gold medal with impressive final figures of 145-180-325,^[14] surpassing all three youth world records at the time (including his own).^[15] Although these figures remain above the current records and were achieved in an IWF-organized event, they are not officially recognized. In acknowledgment of his performance, the IWF awarded him the title of ‘The Best Lifter’ in the competition.^[16]

Progressing through the junior levels, Juniansyah set three junior world records in the 73 kg category with final figures of 155-194-349 at the 2021 Junior World Weightlifting Championships.^[17][18] In 2022, he set two more consecutive junior world records. First, he broke his own previous record with a 156 kg snatch, securing first place at the 2022 Junior World Weightlifting Championships^[19][20] and successfully defending his 2021 title. Later that year, he further improved the record with a 157 kg snatch (the current record), earning him the top podium spot at the 2022 Asian Youth & Junior Weightlifting Championships.^[21][22]

In 2023, Juniansyah won the SEA Games gold medal, setting three current games records with final figures of 156-191-347 in the 73 kg event.^[23] Three months later, in August 2023, he underwent an appendectomy and was required to take a 6-month break from training and competitions, which impacted his efforts to qualify for Paris 2024 Olympics.^[24][25]

By the end of January 2024, he resumed training and prepared for the next upcoming competitions. He successfully secured qualification for Paris by winning the gold medal at the 2024 IWF World Cup, where he set the current world record with a total lift of 365 kg.^[26]

At the Paris 2024 Olympics, Juniansyah won the gold medal in the men’s 73 kg event, setting a new Olympic record with a 199 kg clean and jerk lift on his second attempt in the final.^[27][28] It was his Olympic debut and Juniansyah became the youngest Indonesian Olympic gold medalist at the age of 21.^[29]

This victory marked the end of China’s five-consecutive-gold dominance in the lightweight category.^[30] It was also Indonesia’s first Olympic gold medal in weightlifting in 72 years, since they began competing at the Helsinki 1952 Olympics, ending a streak of 7 silver and 8 bronze medals in the sport.^[31]

WR = World Record, C = Current, O = Olympic, G = Games, J = Junior, Y = Youth, N = National, U = Unrecognized

*World records are not officially recognized in the online event. The Best Lifter title was awarded.^[16]

Year	Venue	Weight	Snatch (kg)				Clean & Jerk (kg)				Total	Rank
			1	2	3	Rank	1	2	3	Rank
Olympic Games
2024	Paris, France	73 kg	155	155	162	—N/a	191	199 COR	—	—N/a	354
World Championships
2022	Bogotá, Colombia	73 kg	150	155	158		187	192	198		347
2023	Riyadh, Saudi Arabia	73 kg	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2024	Manama, Bahrain	73 kg	146	150	160	8	180	190	200		340
2025	Førde, Norway	79 kg	157	162	162		195	204 CWR	—		361
IWF World Cup
2024	Phuket, Thailand	73 kg	155	164	164		192	201	203		365 CWR
Asian Championships
2022	Manama, Bahrain	73 kg	147	152	158		186	186	186	—	—	—
2024	Tashkent, Uzbekistan	73 kg	146	152	158		180	187	195		353
2025	Jiangshan, China	81 kg	150	156	161		190	197	202		358
SEA Games
2021	Hanoi, Vietnam	81 kg	152	157 GR	160	—N/a	192	197	200	—N/a	354
2023	Phnom Penh, Cambodia	73 kg	143	143	156 CGR	—N/a	176	191	191 CGR	—N/a	347 CGR
2025	Chonburi, Thailand	79 kg	152	156	160 CGR	—N/a	185	195	205 CWR	—N/a	365 CWR
Islamic Solidarity Games
2021	Konya, Turkey	73 kg	150	160	160		181	190	195		340
Junior World Championships
2021	Tashkent, Uzbekistan	73 kg	142	146	155 JWR		180	189	194 CJWR		349 CJWR
2022	Heraklion, Greece	73 kg	147	156 JWR	–		185	195	199		341
Asian Junior Championships
2020	Tashkent, Uzbekistan	73 kg	127	132	139	4	160	165	168	4	307	4
2022	Tashkent, Uzbekistan	73 kg	149	154	157 CJWR		182	195	195		339
Youth World Cup
2020	Lima, Peru Online Event*	73 kg	140	145 UYWR	150		172	180 UYWR	185		325 UYWR
Asian Youth Championships
2019	Pyongyang, North Korea	67 kg	120	125	130		145	153	157		287
2020	Tashkent, Uzbekistan	73 kg	127	132	139 CYWR		160	165	168		307 YWR