Topic: Russians go 1, 2; China 5th in Women's 63s

[Rachel Crass]

Straight from the PC following the Women's 63 kg class. Men's 77s up next so typing fast.

19 year-old Tima TURIEVA (RUS) set lifetime PRs to go 102/127/229 for gold.

18 year-old Karina GORECHEVA (KAZ) switched from karate 2 1/2 years ago to haul up 100/127/227 for silver. She said she didn't like karate enough to keep going with it and liked weightlifting more, so she switched at 15-16 years old.

18 year-old RIM Jong Sim (PRK, 97/128/225, Bronze) didn't speak English, Russian, German, Thai, Italian, French, Hungarian, or the smattering of other languages represented in the room, but she was a good sport and hung in there through the questions posed to the other young ladies. Respectful, avoiding eye contact...quintessentially Asian in her demeanor. I am still sometimes surprised at their un-waivering respect for authority. Her shoulders were bowed, and everything from her eyes to her head tilt, to her fingers lightly tucked under her legs in an almost childish self-restraint screamed that she acknowledged me as the alpha in the room. In truth, it is a position that I am rarely in in this sport...being given authority simply because I moderated the meeting. One would think that after growing up in weightlifting, I would be a bit more accustomed to this cultural difference, but standing over her, quite frankly, made me downright uncomfortable. I am glad to be American....

The 4th place finisher, Darat SRISUWAN (THA) went 100/120/220. She is a 2nd year graduate student. No job, but she enjoys "mixing it up" a little by having an outlet other than weightlifting.

Overall, from watching these ladies over the past few days, I get an overwhelming sense that they aren't much different from you or me. They aren't any leaner than Natalie Burgener or Amanda Sandoval, and all of them have very feminine physiques (Turieva and Gorecheva are, admittedly, the anomolies on their teams in these respects.). They are all somewhat shy and reserved in public but have bright eyes and an enthusiasm for the sport.

I'm curious to watch these ladies grow into the senior ranks. They all have at least 1 year left as Juniors, but there's a huge gap between their 220s totals and the 240s that won Senior Worlds. I hope they don't have to trade in their current hourglass forms and bright, playful eyes for Senior World medals. Sadly, though, I suspect that to be the case. Turieva's voice is already baritone. Gorecheva's jaw already squaring up.

Rachel