China’s amateur weightlifters fight ‘short and fat’ stigma

In a Shanghai basement gym, amateur weightlifters strain under two loads: the steel bars and plates that they lift, and a stigma rooted in the Chinese belief that the sport leaves its practitioners stunted and fat.

In a Shanghai basement gym, amateur weightlifters strain under two loads: the steel bars and plates that they lift, and a stigma rooted in the Chinese belief that the sport leaves its practitioners stunted and fat.