Topic: News: 2008 Olympics News

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

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Hungarian weightlifter injured at Beijing Games

BEIJING (AP) - Hungarian strongman Janos Baranyai's first Olympics ended in agony Wednesday when he dislocated his right elbow in the ugliest moment yet of the Olympic weightlifting competition.

Baranyai was trying to snatch 148 kg (326.3 pounds) in his third lift in the men's 77-kilogram division, when his elbow popped out of socket.

No longer able to support the weight of the barbell, his right forearm bent backward. The 24-year-old Hungarian fell to the floor in shock, shaking and crying out in pain.

Hungary's coaching staff and competition officials rushed to Baranyai's aid as he lay trembling on the floor, his arm limp and twisted out of position.

Baranyai was carried off the platform on a stretcher and taken by ambulance to a local hospital for evaluation and treatment, said Benny Johansson, a technical controller at the event. It was not immediately clear how serious the injury was.

"It looked really awful," Johansson said. "If the ligaments are damaged then it could take several months to heal.
He said elbow and knee injuries are the most common injuries in the sport, "but the number of injuries are quite small in comparison with the number of athletes. You cannot even compare it with football for example."

A former judo wrestler from Oroszlany, Hungary, Baranyai was competing with the so-called B-group of lifters in the 77-kg division; the top contenders in the A-group were set to enter the contest later Wednesday.

Hungary's lone lifter in the Olympics, he was ninth in both the snatch and clean and jerk in the European Championship earlier this year and placed 33rd in last year's world championship.

He cleared his first snatch attempts at 140 kg and 145 kg before loading up the bar at 148 kgs, a relatively modest weight in top-level competition. The world record in the snatch is 173 kg (463 pounds).

In the snatch, the bar is pulled overhead in one continuous motion as the lifter settles into a squat, then rises with arms extended. Baranyai was in the squat position when his elbow popped.

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

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Essex weightlifter delivers Olympian effort

BEIJING -- The ice bag on Carissa Gump's left wrist Tuesday illustrated the strain and effort of being an Olympic weightlifter.

Moist eyes showed why the pain was worth it.

Gump finished 14th in her weight class (138.9 pounds) at the Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics Gymnasium, lifting a total of 449.8 pounds in the snatch and clean and jerk.

The native of Essex hoped to climb higher in the group standings -- she was sixth in Group B -- but retained some Olympic-sized perspective.

"I'm disappointed, but I'm here, you know?" Gump said.

Gump "tweaked her wrist" during competition, but completed all six possible lifts -- posting bests of 255.8 pounds in the clean and jerk, and 194 pounds in snatch.

The wrist will be OK, Gump said.

"I did the best I could," she said. "I gave it my all."

Gump tried to set a new U.S. record, going for 114 kg (251.3 pounds) in her last clean and jerk. Gump rose well from a squat but couldn't push the bar up high enough.

"That's probably the biggest disappointment because I've done it in the gym," she said.

Gump lifted in front of an announced crowd of 2,000.

"In 13 years of lifting, I'm 100 percent sure this is the biggest facility, the biggest crowd I've ever competed in front of," Gump said.

The trip to Beijing has included highlights beyond the gym.

Gump met NBA star Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers and President Bush the night of the Opening Ceremony. Conversations turned, of course, to weightlifting.

"I talked to Kobe for a little bit and he said he doesn't do clean and jerk and snatch because it hurts his body too much," she said. "I said, 'I bet my body hurts more than yours right now.'"

Gump and teammates even made a presidential request.

"We asked him to make a muscle and he said, 'I don't have any muscles,'" Gump said.

In the crowd Tuesday were Gump's parents, Marty and Kathie Gordon, and husband, Jason, who also lifts competitively.

Jason chased his own Beijing dream before a pair of back operations sidelined him for these Games. He works in venue operations for the U.S. Olympic Committee in Colorado Springs, Colo.

"They've given me a ton of support," she said.

Gump, who had been quoted in news reports about concerns about asthma and air quality in China, said Tuesday the trip has been incident-free.

"I have not had any problems with my asthma in China," she said. "I probably have more problems back home than I do here."

Now that the competition is behind her, Gump plans to explore the city and enjoy the Games with her family.

Gump will celebrate her 25th birthday the day of Closing Ceremony.

"This has been unbelievable," she said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. Bryce Miller is the sports editor of The Des Moines Register and is covering the Beijing Games for Gannett News Service.

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

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Olympic gold and 3 world records for Chinese weightlifter

China's Liu Chunhong defended her Olympic title and set three world records in front of a hometown crowd to win the host country's sixth weightlifting gold on Day 5 of the Beijing Games.

Chunhong dominated her competitors at the 69-kilogram weight class, lifting a total 34 kg more than the next best athlete.

Her total of 289 kg set a new world record, smashing the previous marker by a whopping 10kg. Earlier in the competition she broke the world record for high score in the snatch with 128 kg and also set a new marker for the clean and jerk with a lift of 158 kg.

Reigning world champion Oxana Slivenko of Russia won silver with a total lift of 255 kg.

Ukraine's Natalya Davydova lifted a total 250 kg to win bronze.

On the men's side, Sa Jaehyouk of South Korea won the gold medal in the 77-kg weight class with a total lift of 366 kg.

Li Hongli from China won the silver medal, and Gevorg Davtyan of Armenia took the bronze.

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

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Konawa native competes in Olympic games
By Judd Morse

Beijing — Konawa native and 2008 Olympics contender Chad Vaughn competed in the Men’s 77kg (170 lbs) Wednesday in Beijing, but did not receive a finishing score. Vaughn lifted 147kg on the snatch, but did not make a qualifying lift on three attempts for the clean & jerk.

Broken down by lift, Vaughn did not make a clean lift on his first attempt of 144kg on the snatch. He successfully lifted 144kg on his second attempt, and 147kg on his third and final attempt.

On the clean & jerk, Vaughn did not make his first two lifts of 182kg, and also did not make his third and final lift of 183kg. Without a total from the clean & jerk to combine with his snatch score, Vaughn received a DNF.

“I don’t know what happened, I can’t explain it,” said Vaughn’s mother Gay. “I mean, it’s very unusual for him; something was going on, but I don’t know what it was.”

Vaughn is a five-time national champion, four times at 77kg and once at 85kg. On May 11, 2005, he celebrated his 25th birthday and Mother’s Day in perfect lifting style, winning the 85kg national championship with a total of 335kg lifted. Vaughn also recently set the national record at 77kg in the clean & jerk at the 2007 Arnold Classic, with a lift of 190kg. Oscar Chaplin III holds the records in the weight division in the snatch (157.5kg) and total (342.5kg).

The gold medal for the event went to both the South Korean and Chinese contenders, who tied with a final score of 366kg. South Korea’s Jaehyouk Sa lifted 163kg on the snatch and 203kg on the clean & jerk, while China’s Hongli Li made a 168kg snatch and a 198kg clean & jerk. Nigeria’s Felix Ekpo finished behind them a 143kg snatch and a 182kg clean & jerk, for a total of 325kg.

A televised showing of the event is expected to play today on MSNBC between the hours of 4 a.m. and 4 p.m.

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

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Liu breaks records, Sa halts Chinese streak

BEIJING: Record-breaking Liu Chunhong won China's sixth straight Olympic weightlifting gold medal yesterday, but Sa Jae-Hyouk halted the winning streak as he hoisted South Korea to their first lifting title here. Defending Olympic champion Liu, who was made to switch sports from judo because she was considered too short, litfed 128kg in the snatch and added 158kg in the clean and jerk for a total of 286kg. All three were new world records.

I don't think anyone will reach that in the next one to two years, and when someone does I will create more records," said a tired Liu, who added she wanted to return home to Shandong province where she has spent only six days with her parents since Athens four years ago. "I would like to take some rest. The continuous training certainly has taken its toll and I feel rather exhausted," she said, refusing to say whether she would be back to defend her title at the London Olympics.

I would like to see my parents and spend more time with them." Liu twice broke the snatch world record with 125kg and 128kg efforts, erasing the 22 month-old standard of 123kg held by Russia's Oxana Slivenko. Her second clean and jerk of 149kg confirmed a world record total of at least 277kg, a kilogramme better than Slivenko's 11 month-old record. Liu then raised the total higher with a record final clean and jerk of 158kg.

Slivenko, 21, managed 115kg in the snatch and 140kg in the clean and jerk for a 255kg total and the silver medal. Ukrainian Natalya Davydova won the bronze medal with a 250kg total. In the men's 77kg event, Sa mounted a dramatic fightback to overhaul and send local favourite Li Hongli into Olympic retirement.

The South Korean followed his meagre 163kg snatch lift with an outstanding 203kg heave in the clean and jerk for a total of 366kg. Li achieved the same but Sa won by virtue of his lower body weight. Gevorg Davtyan of Armenia took the bronze with 360kg. The soft-spoken Sa said he was spurred on to victory by the nightmarish performance of his colleagues here, some of whom were in the running with huge lifts in the snatch, only to collapse at the clean and jerk segment.
They really kept me awake at night," he said. His strategy was "to keep the gap as close as possible in the snatch, and make the decisive move in the clean and jerk. I think that strategy worked.

Li watched on helplessly as Sa heaved 201kg in his first clean and jerk attempt, the Chinese having finished his routine with 198kg. The Korean grabbed the lead for good with a second lift of 203kg. For his last lift the 23-year-old from Hongcheon went hunting for the world record but his audacious 211kg effort failed. Li said he knew it was over when he failed to convert his third snatch lift.

After my first clean and jerk effort (193kg), I felt my physical strength was going downhill and I started cramping in my arms." He added: "Next year, I will attend the national games and then retire."

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

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Lifter watches bronze disappear

BEIJING -- Canadian weightlifter Christine Girard was headed for a bronze medal, with only one competitor to go in her event, the women's 63-kilogram class.

The final weightlifter, Pak Hyon Suk of North Korea, was about tomake her last attempt of the day. If she missed it, Girard would get bronze.

Pak lifted 135 kg in a clean and jerk, stumbled, and raised it high to win the gold medal.

Just like that, Girard was off the podium.

Girard, of Rouyn-Noranda, Que., had a total lift of 228 kg in the snatch and clean and jerk events. She took a very respectable fourth place. After her two final unsuccessful lifts of 130 kg in clean and jerk, she watched the end of the competition on a monitor from the training room.

 "I was close," she said calmly. "When the Korean went in for her third attempt, I said to myself that the best one would win ... and she, the best lifter, did win."

She gave no excuses.

"This is the first time in my life that I experienced something like this. Considering the circumstances, I think I did well. I amproud of what I have achieved."

The competition was wide open once the two favourites. Svetlana Tsarukaeva of Russia and Maya Maneza from Kazakhstan, were eliminated.

The first was eliminated due to three failed lifts in the snatch (107 kg) and the second because of an injury to her elbow.

Girard was disappointed, but already was talking about London 2012. "My performance today would have given me amedal in most competitions. I have to let it go and get ready for 2012."

What will she do when she gets back to Canada?

"I can't wait to go horseback riding," she said.

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

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No To the Nth Power, Weightlifting Division

Sometimes, it's probably for the best that they don't show weightlifting a lot on NBC's coverage of the games. Janos Baranyai of Hungary went for 146 kg (326 pounds) on the snatch. Janos didn't make it, and his elbow vetoed the entire move by popping out of socket at the worst possible moment: with the full weight of the bar over his head.

Do not watch this if you are squeamish, because it is horrific and puke-making. We mean that to the fullest extent of "horrific and puke-making."

Video censored by Admin. Go to link if you want to see someone get hurt.

Yeah, just go back to Michael Phelps and gymnastics. Even watching poor Alicia Sacramone's implosion was less nauseating than that, and Sacramone went through a chalk dust-filled gymnastics hell last night in front of billions of watching eyes. Baranyai, for the record, dislocated the elbow, suffered no torn ligaments or broken bones, and will be out for the rest of the year.

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

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Liu Chunhong: China's unlikely weightlifting heroine
By Kevin Eason

The air tingled with anticipation in the split-second of silence. There just a tiny yelp and a moment of concentration before Liu Chunhong dragged the barbell to her chest as though it was nailed to the floor and then shoved it above her head, arms straight, with not a quiver from her tree-trunk legs.

It was Liu’s turn for adulation at the Olympic weightlifting competition and it came in waves from the stands of the auditorium where hundreds of her countrymen and women clapped their hands and chanted “China, China, China”. They had cheerleaders to orchestrate their joy but they were hardly needed after what the crowd had seen.

Liu, 28, is an unlikely heroine with her pudding bowl haircut, just 5ft 3ins tall and built like a small car. But that was stature enough to obliterate three world and Olympic records in quick succession in her 69-kilo category. She started with 128 kilos in the snatch, then 158 in the clean and jerk to add up to an almighty 286 kilos in total - four times her own bodyweight and ten kilos more than the previous world record.

If ample demonstration were needed that China is a weightlifting superpower, this was it. Liu’s gold today made it six from eight rounds of weightlifting, and the winner of one of two to elude the host nation, Prapawadee Jaroanrattanatarakoon, from Thailand, has two coaches from China. If it could be called a letdown, Li Hongli could manage only silver tonight in the 77-kilo category.

China’s domination even led to questions over whether it was worth any other nations turning up in the categories where, like Liu, the gold medal seemed to be a foregone conclusion. A better question would have been whether Liu’s opponents had made up their minds it wasn’t worth the effort because they believed the contest was over before it started.

A sullen Oxana Slivenko, the silver medallist, seemed to say so after lifting way below her best of 276 kilos, the world record before it was smashed to pieces by Liu. Home advantage was the reason for such a phenomenal performance, she said, with dark hints that her Russian team had been the subject of some jiggery-pokery to put them off their stride, such as suspecting out that China had trained on the dias used for the Olympic competition, and being hounded by unnecessary early morning wake-up calls.

“There was never any doubt China would do well at these Games,” she said. “They say in Russia that when you are at home, even the walls will help you. That is what it is like for China here at home.” The homespun theory of China’s dominance only holds water as far as Beijing’s futuristic new airport terminal. The huge haul of golds so far in Beijing follows five in Athens four years ago and five in Sydney in 2000 - so they obviously travel well, too.

The plain fact is that China knows how to gold medal produce weightlifters, which is why one of the country’s most valuable exports is weightlifting coaches and why any weightlifter serious about an Olympic medal heads to China for help. China is awash with world-class weightlifters to the extent that they had to whittle down a list of champions for the ten-man and woman team for Beijing; by contrast, TeamGB managed to send a single competitor, Michaela Breeze.

In China, coaches are regarded almost as highly as the athletes - except in the case of Liu, who is revered. Not that she cares now, for she left celebrations behind to spend some time with her parents. In the four years since she won gold at Athens in 2004, she has spent just six days with them, underlining the commitment of a double gold medal winner and world record holder to the national cause.