Nina Sterckx

Nina Sterckx (born 26 July 2002) is a Belgian weightlifter. She is a three-time medalist at the European Weightlifting Championships and achieved 5th place representing Belgium at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.

In 2019, Sterckx won the gold medal in the women's junior 49kg event at the European Junior & U23 Weightlifting Championships in Bucharest, Romania. She also won the gold medal in the women's 55kg event at the 2022 Junior World Weightlifting Championships held in Heraklion, Greece.

Career
Sterckx won the silver medal in the under-15 girls 48kg event at the 2017 European Youth Weightlifting Championships held in Pristina, Kosovo. She won the bronze medal in the under-17 girls 53kg event at the 2018 European Youth Weightlifting Championships held in San Donato Milanese, Italy.

Both in 2018 and 2019, Sterckx competed in the women's 55kg event at the World Weightlifting Championships. In 2018, she also competed in the women's 53kg event at the European Weightlifting Championships held in Bucharest, Romania. In 2019, she finished in 8th place at the European Weightlifting Championships held in Batumi, Georgia.

In April 2021, Sterckx won the bronze medal in the women's 55kg event at the European Weightlifting Championships held in Moscow, Russia. In May 2021, she won the silver medal in her event at the Junior World Weightlifting Championships held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

She won the silver medal in the women's 55kg event at the 2021 Junior World Weightlifting Championships held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. In July 2021, Sterckx represented Belgium at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. Her goal was to compete at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France but her result at the Junior World Weightlifting Championships, limits on the number of athletes per NOC and doping violations of other countries meant that she ranked 8th in the 49 kg weight class, allowing her to qualify for the 2020 Summer Olympics. Sterckx finished in 5th place in the women's 49kg event. She lifted 81kg in the Snatch, 99kg in the Clean & Jerk and she set a new Belgian record of 180kg in total.

Sterckx won the gold medal in the women's 55kg event at the 2022 Junior World Weightlifting Championships held in Heraklion, Greece. It was the first time a weightlifter representing Belgium became junior world champion. She won the bronze medal in her event at the 2022 European Weightlifting Championships held in Tirana, Albania. She also won the bronze medals in the Snatch and Clean & Jerk events with lifts of 94 kg and 111 kg respectively.

Sterckx won the gold medal in her event at the 2022 European Junior & U23 Weightlifting Championships held in Durrës, Albania. She also set new junior world records in the Clean & Jerk (118kg) and in total (213kg). In preparation for the 2024 Summer Olympics, which only features the women's 49kg and 59kg weight classes, she decided to move down from the 55kg to the 49kg weight class in this competition. Sterckx finished in 6th place in the women's 49kg event at the 2022 World Weightlifting Championships held in Bogotá, Colombia.

Sterckx won the silver medal in the women's 59kg event at the 2023 European Weightlifting Championships held in Yerevan, Armenia. She also won the silver medals in the Snatch and Clean & Jerk events. , she is planning to decide whether she'll compete in the 49kg or 59kg weight class at the 2024 Summer Olympics after the Olympic qualification period is over. She competed in the women's 59kg event at the 2023 World Weightlifting Championships held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

In February 2024, Sterckx competed in the women's 59kg event at the European Weightlifting Championships held in Sofia, Bulgaria. She won the silver medal in the Snatch event and she was unable to complete a Clean & Jerk.