Topic: News: 2008 Olympics News

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

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Chinese strongwoman Chen Xiexia: save the tears, show the smile
By Sportswriters Wu Chen, Liu Yang

BEIJING, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- Chen Xiexia's coach lost six kilograms of weight after the hot favorite for the Olympic women's 48kg weightlifting title was accidentally injured less than a month before the start of the Beijing Games.

But the 25-year-old girl managed to overcome the setback and lived up to expectations on Saturday when she outclassed a handful of world-class competitors to win the Olympic gold medal, the hosts' first gold at the Games.

After 13 years of hard training and going through the accident, the diminutive girl seemed to have a thousand reasons to cry, but she didn't and instead showed a beautiful smile after the competition.

"There is nothing I fear after going through the low tide," Chen said.

Shouting "Hey, Jiayou"(Go! Go!) to cheer herself up before every attempt, Chen snatched 95kg and jerked 177kg for a winning total of 212kg. It is also China's first Olympic gold medal in this category.

"I didn't feel anything special. I have tried my best to compete, whether or not this medal was the first gold," said Chen, who waved to thank the enthusiastic home fans when standing on the podium.

Despite competing on home soil, Chen didn't feel a lot of pressure. "What I thought was to make every good attempt and achieve as much as I can," she said.

She really did. She fell into sound sleep at 9 pm on the eve of the decisive battle.

Chinese coach Ma Wenhui, who gave a big hug to Chen after the competition, said the girl has become mature.

Chen strained the muscle in her left leg 28 days ago during a training session when attempting to jerk 115kg, which nearly cost her the Olympic berth and triggered concerns about her fitness for the Beijing Games.

"After she recovered from it, she turned out to be different," Ma said.

"I felt depressed over the injury, but I never give up," Chen said.

It's not easy to do so. Even Ma said he was astonished and moved by her persistance. Chen never thought it would be such a difficult road when she chose to practice weightlifting 13 years ago at 12 years of age.

Born in Panyu City of south China's Guangdong Province, Chen developed a keen interest in sports from her childhood. In 1995, a weightlifting coach of a local amateur sports school spotted Chen, who has good explosive strength, when he went to her primary school to pick up potential players.

"Is weightlifting interesting?" She asked with curiosity, which led her to the road of weightlifting.

When Chen was still a newcomer in the weightlifting team of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), two other lifters in her class, Wang Mingjuan, two years younger than Chen, became world champion in 2002 and Yang Lian, born in 1982, smashed three world records at her world championships debut in 2006.

Like an "ugly duckling", she hided herself in the corner and never dared to dream of the Olympics, but she kept hard training, and it paid off.

In the National Championships in 2006, Chen won a bronze medal, which sent her into the national weightlifting team.

"The 2008 Beijing Olympics was only a daydream for me before 2006 as I didn't make good performance. However, it became close to me after I entered the national team," she said.

Chen survived the fierce competition and pressure in the national team, where many newcomers are dropped each year, and rocketed to the top of the national rankings last year.

"I have built up self-confidence since 2006," she said.

She made debut on the international competition stage last April in the Asian Weightlifting Championships.

She jerked 120kg, one kilo heavier than the previous world record, which was set by her teammate Yang Lian in 2006, and claimed the gold. Excited journalists rushed to the "new face" to ask questions.

"Actually, I'm old. I'm just new to you," she replied, blushed.

Three weeks later, she defeated Wang Mingjuan at the national championships.

Also in 2007, Chen went to Chiangmai in Thailand to participate the World Weightlifting Championships, her first event abroad.

Ma Wenhui noticed that Chen became nervous when they arrived and didn't sing songs during the training sessions as she usually did.

"You should act like a tigerling, biting whoever you come across," Ma told her.

Chen smiled and relaxed. She gained three golds in the world championships.

Ma said Chen was under certain pressure after rising to stardom following a number of good performances, however, the injury changed the situation.

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

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Weightlifting Day 2 Preview: Young talents strive for gold

(BEIJING, August 9) -- The second day of the Olympic Weightlifting competition will generate two gold medals, one each from the Women's 53 kilogram and Men's 56 kilogram weight classes. Asian countries will be the dominant force again as the Republic of Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and Vietnam all compete for spots on the podium.

Women's 53kg

Since 2004 gold medalist Udomporn Polsak of Thailand is not on this year's squad, 24-year old Prapawadee Jaroenrattanatarakoon, runner-up in last year's Asian Championship, will try and defend her country's gold medal. Her entry total of 220kg is among the best of all the competitors.

Another lifter with an entry total of 220kg is Yoon Jin-Hee of the Republic of Korea. She finished third in the 53kg weight class at the 2007 World Championship when she lifted a total of 211kg.

Anastassia Novikava of Belarus may be the only lifter from outside Asia who may have a shot at the gold medal. She was the silver medalist at the 2007 World Championship, lifting 2kg more than Yoon in total weight. She also competed in the 2004 Athens Games, finishing fifth with a total of 190kg. This time she has an entry weight of 217kg.

Other medal candidates are Raema Lisa Rumbewas of Indonesia (215kg entry total) and Yudelquis Maridalin of Dominican Republic (212kg entry total).

Men's 56kg

With the absence of Turkish legend Halil Mutlu, this year Men's 56kg Weightlifting will see its first new champion in 12 years. The lifter with the best shot for the gold this year is 21-year old Cha Kum Chol of the DPRK. He is the reigning World Champion with a total weight of 283kg. His entry total weight is 290kg, one of the best in this weight class.

Cha's fiercest rival could be 19-year old Eko Yuli Irawan Indonesia. He is the bronze medalist from the 2007 World Championship and generally regarded as one of the most talented young weightlifters in the world. He also competed in the 62kg class in the 2008 Asian Championship and took the silver medal. His entry total weight is 295kg.

Another possible medalist will be 23-year old Hoang Anh Tuan of Vietnam who has a total entry weight of 292kg. He was the bronze winner in the 2006 World Championship and gold medalist in both the 2007 and 2008 Asian Championships. He is one of the most experienced in terms of major events participation, and has maintained a relatively steady record in recent years.

China is hoping to win its second Weightlifting medal after the first day's gold performance Chen Xiexia's in Women's 48kg, and China's medal hopes rest on the shoulders of 17-year old Long Qingquan. This will be his first major international event. Long began weightlifting training at the age of nine. He overpowered 2006 World Champion Li Zheng at China's 2008 national trials, which earned him an Olympic spot. His total entry weight is 290kg.

Other medal candidates include Sergio Alvarez of Cuba (285kg entry total) and Ri Kyong Sok of the DPRK (285kg entry total).

The Women's 53kg Weightlifting competition will begin at 3:30 p.m., while the Men's 56kg group A competition, which contains the top medal contenders with the highest entry weight totals, begins at 7:00 p.m. (all times UTC/GMT +8).

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

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Team USA expects light haul in weightlifting

BEIJING (AP) - The U.S. weightlifting team is hoping for at least one medal in the Beijing Olympics, and Melanie Roach has the best shot in the women's 53-kilogram category on Sunday.

It would take a very strong performance, though, to put the 33-year-old mother of three within reach of the bronze, which is all the Americans can really hope for in a sport increasingly dominated by Asian countries, especially China.

"We have four girls and we hope to get one in the top six and one medal," U.S women's coach Dennis Snethen said.

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Super heavyweight Cheryl Haworth, a bronze medalist eight years ago in Sydney, could make a second trip to the Olympic podium.

The men's target is set even lower. A top-10 finish for Chad Vaughn in the 77-kg category and a top six for Kendrick Farris in the 85-kg would be a good result, coach Roger Nielson said.

"A medal? It's going to be a long shot," he said.

That may seem like modest ambitions for a country that used to be a weightlifting powerhouse, but those days are long gone. The U.S. men have not won any Olympic weightlifting medals since 1984.

Tara Nott won the only U.S. gold medal so far for the women, in Sydney 2000.

Super heavyweight Cheryl Haworth won a bronze in those games and said she wants another medal in Beijing, of whatever color.

"It doesn't really matter to me at this point. I just want to go and compete well. I want to do my country proud and lift like I know I can lift," she said.

It won't be easy. Haworth will compete on Saturday against some strong women, including world champion Jang Mi-ran of South Korea and Olha Korobka of Ukraine.

A Day in the Life of Melanie Roach

It's one of the categories where China isn't participating, even though it has some strong competitors in that weight class, too. The reason is no country can enter more than four women and six men in the competition.

If it weren't for those restrictions, China -- which won the first weightlifting gold medal Saturday in the women's 48-kg division -- would stand a good chance of sweeping every women's category.

"China is a tremendous weightlifting factory," Snethen said. "I've been told they have 100,000 women weightlifters in China. That's more than the rest of the world."

By comparison, the U.S. Olympic weightlifting organization has just over 5,000 active members of both genders, including athletes, coaches, referees and volunteers.

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

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Champion Chen of China with 48kg Olympic Record

(BEIJING, August 9) -- Chen Xiexia of China performed with the confidence of a champion throughout the Women's 48 kilogram Weightlifting competition on August 9, successfully completing all her attempts for a gold medal finish with 95kg in the Snatch and 117kg in the Clean and Jerk for a total of 212kg, a new Olympic Record.

Chen also set an Olympic record in the Clean and Jerk with 117kg.

China's Chen adds this Olympic gold medal to her collection of golds from the 2007 World Championships and 2007 Asian championships.

Turkey's Sibel Ozkan won the silver medal with 88kg in the Snatch and a successful 111kg in the Clean and Jerk for a 199kg total.

Chen Wei-Ling of Chinese Taipei is the bronze winner, with 84kg in the Snatch and 112kg in the Clean and Jerk for a 196kg total finish.

Defending gold medalist Nurcan Taylan of Turkey, the previous Olympic Record-holder who lifted a total 210kg in Athens, bombed-out in the Snatch and was subsequently knocked out of competition. She kissed the left side weight discs on her barbell before waving to the crowd on the way out.

Taylan wasn't the only competitor to bomb-out in the Snatch. Italy's Genny Caterina Pagliaro, the youngest competitor in this weight class at 19-years old, didn't finish, nor did Pramsiri Bunphithak of Thailand, the 2004 Athens silver medalist.

The Snatch bomb-out streak didn't last too long. The eventual fourth place finished, Republic of Korea's Im Jyounghwa, couldn't complete her final attempt of 88kg but finished the Snatch with 86kg. Thailand's Pensiri Laosirikul, who came in fifth, just barely avoided a Snatch bomb-out herself, finally lifting 85kg on her final attempt.

Turkey's Ozkan managed 86kg on her first Snatch attempt, and hit her 88kg lift on the third try. Chen Wei-Ling achieved her 84kg lift in the Snatch on her first attempt, but failed the next two times.

China's Chen made her first attempt in the Snatch of 90kg with barely a struggle, and followed it up with two more seemingly effortless lifts at 93kg and then 95kg, punctuating each success with a quick bow. Her performance ignited the crowd, and with each lift their cheers of "Let's go China!" grew louder. Finishing 7kg above Ozkan in the Snatch made Chen almost a lock for the gold, since she is the current World Record-holder for the Clean and Jerk.

As for some of the other competitors, Nicaragua's Carla Moreno finished 85kg in Clean and Jerk for a last place total of 150kg. Marilou Dozois-Prevost of Canada successfully lifted 90kg in the Clean and Jerk for a 166kg total. Misaki Oshiro of Japan and Marzena Karpinska of Poland both lifted 92kg in the Clean and Jerk, but Oshiro finished with a 172kg total while Karpinska's total was 171kg.

Melanie Noel of France lifted 97kg but failed twice to complete 100kg, finishing at a 177kg total.

Japan's Hiromi Miyake came out full speed with the first triple-digit successful lift of the competition, 105kg on her first Clean and Jerk attempt, although she stumbled a bit causing only two of the three judges to call it a successful attempt. She finished with 185kg for her total.

Thai lifter Laosirikul celebrated her first Clean and Jerk attempt, a successful 110kg,but ultimately missed the podium by one kilogram with a 195kg total.

ROK's Im was able to complete her 106kg Clean and Jerk first attempt in good form, and finished the Clean and Jerk with 110kg successfully lifted. Im's total of 196kg was even with bronze medalist Chen Wei-Ling of Chinese Taipei, but she fell short of the podium because Chen had a lower body weight at the pre-competition weigh-in.

Chinese Taipei's Chen easily hit 108kg in her first Clean and Jerk attempt, and 112kg on her second attempt. Junior World Champion Ozkan finished the Clean and Jerk with 111kg in her third attempt, less than Chen Wei-Ling, but with a total of 199kg Ozkan knew she was likely to reach the podium. She ran off to hug her coach, who also erupted in a display of excitement.

When Chen Wei-Ling collapsed at the last second in her final attempt of 115kg and ended with a 196kg total, Ozkan began to tear up backstage over the exciting realization that she would be the silver medalist.

The crowd was alive again for China's Chen Xiexia, who started her Clean and Jerk attempt at 113kg, one kilogram above the last successful attempt of her competitors. Her completion of this first attempt made it beyond a doubt that she would be the gold medalist. She followed with 115kg and 117kg in her next two attempts, and clinched the gold with a 212kg total.

While Chen Xiexia set a new Olympic Record, she did not break her own personal best of 214kg in the total, nor any World Records. She still holds the Clean and Jerk World Record of 120kg, and her compatriot Yang Lian has the World Record in the Snatch with 98kg and the total with 217kg.

China now holds 14 of 20 Olympic records in Women's Weightlifting.

Chen Xiexia's gold was the first medal of the 2008 Olympic Weightlifting competition. All Weightlifting events are held in the Beijing University of Aeronautics & Astronautics Gymnasium.

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

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Chen lifts 1st gold for China, Miyake places 6th

By Ken Marantz

BEIJING--Chen Xiexia lifted a large burden off her shoulders by lifting great weights over her head.

Chen became host China's first gold medalist at the Beijing Olympics when she easily lived up to expectations and won the women's 48-kilogram title in weightlifting.

Before a vocal home crowd at the Beijing University of Aeronautics & Astronautics Gymnasium, the heavily favored Chen set Olympic records in the clean and jerk and overall in beginning an anticipated Chinese gold rush on the opening day of competition.

The 2007 world champion, the 25-year-old Chen showed she was in a class of her own by combining to lift 212 kilograms, 95 kg in the snatch and 117 kg in the clean and jerk.

"This competition was held on our home court and I had the special support of the audience, especially the Chinese crowd, so I don't think I was under great pressure," Chen said.

"I was only thinking of making every attempt and achieving as much as I could."

Nurcan Taylan of Turkey, this year's world junior champion, came out on top in what was basically a battle for the two other medals by taking the silver with a total of 199 kilograms (88 kg snatch, 111 kg clean and jerk).

Taiwan's Chen Wei Ling, who could have finished second had she been successful in her final clean-and-jerk attempt at 115 kg, placed third at 196 kg (84, 112).

Chen, whose coach Zhang Jiamin is from mainland China, drew loud cheers from the Chinese crowd.

South Korea's Im Jyoung Hwa also totaled 196 kg (86, 110), but the Taiwanese was awarded the bronze based on lower body weight, which serves as the tiebreaker.

The day was a disaster for defending Olympic champion Sibel Ozkan of Turkey and Thailand's 2007 world silver medalist Pramsiri Bunphithak, who both were eliminated after failing on all three snatch attempts at 84 kg.

"I don't care much about whether I won or not, I just wanted to try," said Ozkan, who has been out of form recently.

Like the star of any show, China's Chen made a grand entrance, waiting in the snatch until all of the other competitors had taken all of their three attempts before making her first at 90 kg.

After a quick shout of encouragement--"a self-made slogan to cheer me up" was how she described it--Chen settled over the bar. With an explosive twitch, it was soon over her head, sending the crowd into a frenzy.

She repeated the scene five more times that morning, a mighty mite unleashing her awesome controlled power.

Chen played down the hoopla of winning China's first gold medal.

"I had been thinking of winning a medal, but never thought it would turn out to be the first gold medal for China," Chen said. "I didn't feel anything special, I'm very happy and I think I did a very good job."

Miyake a tearful 6th

Hiromi Miyake's hopes of joining her father and uncle as an Olympic medalist never really got off the ground.

Miyake made only her first attempts in both techniques and had to settle for sixth place with a total of 185 kg.

Japanese compatriot Misaki Oshiro finished eighth at 172 kg as three of the 14 competitors failed to make a successful lift in the snatch.

Miyake had placed fifth, third and fourth at the last three world championships, respectively, but needed to exceed her personal bests to have a chance for a medal.

"I pushed myself to the limit, so I have no regrets," a tearful 22-year-old Miyake said. "But it is my most disappointing [result] so far."

Miyake said she suffered a drop in weight going into the competition that affected her strength.

Miyake lifted 80 kg on her first attempt in the snatch before failing twice at 82 kg. She repeated the pattern in the clean and jerk, lifting 105 kg before missing at 110 kg.

Miyake's father and coach Yoshiyuki was a bronze medalist at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, while uncle Yoshinobu, considered Japan's greatest-ever weightlifter, won two Olympic golds and a silver.

"I came here aiming for a medal but it was out of my reach," said Miyake, who placed ninth at the 2004 Athens Olympics. "I realized again how tough the Olympic stage is."

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

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Amirul aims to break national record on his Olympic debut

EXPECT the national record in the 56kg category to go when Malaysian pocket Hercules Amirul Hamizan Ibrahim (pic) enters the stage for the men’s weightlifting competition at the Beijing Aeronautics and Astronautics Gymnasium tonight.

Amirul has been placed in Category A along with 10 other lifters with a 280kg-total entry level.

The Malaysian will find himself in the company of top lifters like Indonesia’s World Championships bronze medallist Irawan Eko Yuli, Vietnam’s Asian Championships gold medallist Anh Tuan Hoang and Cuba’s Sergio Alvarez.

Alvarez is the World Championships silver medallist while China’s Long Qingquan, making his international debut, is also seen as a strong contender after lifting a total of 286kg in the national trials recently.

Amirul’s best efforts of 117kg for snatch and 145kg in the clean and jerk for a total of 262kg were achieved en route to a fourth place finish in the Asian Championships in Japan in May.

He is now ranked 12th in the world and qualified for Beijing on merit.

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Chinese coach Lin Xinhui may have taken a bold gamble by putting his charge on a higher starting weight but Amirul said it was “for strategy purposes”.

“I will probably start with a minimum lift of 260kg, which is almost 100 per cent near my personal best.

“But I have not decided yet. I may go straight to a higher weight, depending on how I feel tomorrow (today). My aim is to beat my personal best at least,” said Amirul, who bagged three gold medals in the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester.

The glitter faded, however, when he was suspended for two years after testing positive for steroids in 2005.

But that’s all in the past and the Rompin-born Amirul is looking forward to his Olympic debut.

“I have an outside chance of winning a medal if we go in with the right strategy,” said Amirul.

“In my weight category, it is predominantly Asian lifters who excel.

“We have three lifts to do our best in the snatch, before we progress to the clean and jerk and the total determines our final position.

“The favourites may be very careful in the snatch and go all out in the clean and jerk. If we do it right, there is a chance.”

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

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Prapawadee wins gold in 53kg
By Sophie Hardach

BEIJING (Reuters) - Prapawadee Jaroenrattanatarakoon from Thailand won the Olympic weightlifting gold medal in the women's 53kg class on Sunday after a fast and tense competition between several close rivals.

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Prapawadee, a university student, snatched 95kg and lifted 126kg for the clean and jerk, grabbing gold with a total of 221kg.

Yoon Jin-hee from South Korea won the silver and Nastassia Novikava from Belarus, the bronze. Prapawadee set an Olympic record on her way to winning the gold.

Chinese women have dominated weightlifting, but the Olympic host had no entrants in the 53kg category, creating space for top contenders from Korea, the Dominican Republic, Belarus, Indonesia and Thailand.

There were only nine competitors in the entire category and about half of them lifted almost the same weight, making for a particularly terse competition that alternately left the audience holding its breath in suspense and cheering with relief.

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

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Thai success in women's weightlifting

Thailand has won its first gold in Beijing in the Women's 53 kilogram weightlifting, with Prapawadee Jaroenrattanatarakoon lifting a total of 221kg to defend its Athens title.

Nastassia Novikava of Belarus and Jaroenrattanatarakoon both lifted 95kg in the Snatch, followed by 94kg from South Korea's Yoon Jinhee.

Jaroenrattanatarakoon's 126kg not only defended Thailand's Athens gold medal but set a new Olympic record for the clean and jerk.

Novikava and Yoon had the same total weight of 213kg, but Yoon took the silver medal thanks to a lighter weight in the pre-Game weigh-in.

Thailand's J Prapawadee set a new Olympic record in the women's clean and jerk, with 126 kilos.

Papua New Guinea's Dika Toua finished well below her personal best total, coming eighth in the women's 53 kilogram weightlifting competition at the Beijing Games with a total of 184.

Toua was disappointed after coming back after injury and having a baby and told Radio Australia's Tanya O'Shea that she was feeling the pressure.

"I was quite happy with the snatch but not my clean and jerk, I am disappointed with my performances today. It did not go the way I expected. Yeah it has been a long journey coming back, I really wanted to do this for my family, but this is how it turned out. But I can't say anything much that's the way it happened, that s the way the competition went," she said.