Hsu Shu-ching


Hsu Shu-ching is a Taiwanese weightlifter.

Early life

Hsu, of Hakka descent, was born in Lunbei, Yunlin, Taiwan. She played basketball in high school, switching to weightlifting at the age of 13, after the school disbanded its basketball team. Hsu attends Kaohsiung Medical University.

Weightlifting career

Hsu was coached by Tsai Wen-yee. She won a gold medal in the women's 53 kg at the 2012 London Olympics, after the original gold medalist, Zulfiya Chinshanlo failed a doping retest. At the 2014 Asian Games, she set a world record in the same event, with a lift of 233 kg. Hsu won another gold medal in the women's 53 kg at the 2016 Summer Olympics. Hsu announced her decision to retire from competition in June 2018, citing injuries sustained in the 2017 World Weightlifting Championships.
In March 2019, the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee disclosed that Hsu underwent a drug test prior to the 2017 World Weightlifting Championships. Her sample tested positive for a banned substance in January 2018, and the CTOC subsequently placed Hsu under a three-year ban from competition. Hsu's test result was not publicized until March 2019, after the World Anti-Doping Agency issued a deadline for the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee to release the information.