In the 75kg category at the 2008 Summer Olympics, Valentín finished in fifth place with a 250kg total.[12][13] In 2016, retests of samples from the 75kg category at the 2008 Olympics returned positive results for the original gold medalist Cao Lei[14] and bronze medalist Nadezhda Evstyukhina.[15] Both were disqualified, and Valentín was awarded the silver medal.[16][17]
In 2012, Valentín competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the 75kg category, and finished in fourth place with a 265kg total, behind the eight new Olympic Records set by Svetlana Podobedova and Natalia Zabolotnaya. In 2016, during retests, all three original medalists returned positive results, thus disqualifying them.[4][18][19] Valentín was declared the Olympic Champion, and in March 2019, she was awarded her gold medal.[20]
In 2016, while waiting for confirmation of these medals, Valentín had competed in the 2016 Olympics, where she lifted a total of 257kg and won the bronze medal. It was, at the time, Spain's first medal ever in weightlifting (retrospectively third).[21][22]
12"Valentin Lidia (ESP)". iat.uni-leipzig.de (in German). IAT Weightlifting Database. Archived from the original on 27 May 2011. Retrieved 18 April 2009.
↑"Sanctioned athletes". IWF.net. International Weightlifting Federation. Archived from the original on 27 March 2013. Retrieved 2 October 2013.
↑"IWF Public Disclosure". IWF.net. International Weightlifting Federation. 24 August 2016. Archived from the original on 3 July 2018. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
