Solfrid Koanda

Solfrid Koanda
Solfrid Koanda with a gold medal draped around her neck
Koanda in 2023
Personal information
Full nameSolfrid Eila Amena Koanda
Born (1998-11-13) 13 November 1998 (age 26)
Oulu, Finland
Height1.66 m (5 ft 5 in)
Sport
CountryNorway
SportWeightlifting
Weight class87 kg
ClubLarvik Atletklubb
Coached byStian Grimseth
Sindre Madsgaard
Thomas Eide[1]
Medal record
Women's weightlifting
Representing  Norway
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2024 Paris 81 kg
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2022 Bogotá 87 kg
Bronze medal – third place 2021 Tashkent 87 kg
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 2022 Tirana 87 kg
Gold medal – first place 2023 Yerevan 87 kg
Gold medal – first place 2024 Sofia 87 kg

Solfrid Eila Amena Koanda (born 13 November 1998) is a Norwegian weightlifter and former electrician who became the first female Norwegian weightlifter to become an Olympic champion, and the first Norwegian weightlifter to become World and European champion in the sport. Born in Oulu to a Finnish mother and an Ivorian father, she lived in Finland until moving to Norway at nine years old. She struggled with self-confidence and usually trained alone in a weight room before being put into foster care and began training in CrossFit. She was then recruited into weightlifting by a CrossFit coach who trained both sports.

A few days after training in the sport, she qualified for her first competition where she then set a national record. Another local competition qualified her for the 2021 European Weightlifting Championships, where she then earned a bronze medal and set new national records. Later that same year, she competed at her first World Weightlifting Championships and earned a bronze medal as well.

Koanda has won three Kongepokals. She won the 2022, 2023, and 2024 European Weightlifting Championships, and also became the 2022 World Weightlifting Champion. At the 2024 Summer Olympics, she won the gold medal in her event and set new Olympic records, where she was then hailed as the Female Athlete of the Year at the 2025 Idrettsgallaen.

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