[10][11] In 2017, Lydia won the World Weightlifting Championship held in Anaheim, United States.

[16][17] In 2012, Valentín competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the 75 kg category, and finished in fourth place with a 265 kg 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.

[21][22] In 2021, she competed in the women's 87 kg event at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.