Solfrid Koanda

Solfrid Eila Amena Koanda (born 13 November 1998) is a Norwegian weightlifter and former electrician. She 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, Finland, to a Finnish mother and an Ivorian father, she lived in Finland until moving to Norway at the age of nine. 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 four 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.