¡¡  ATHENS, Aug. 19 (Xinhuanet) -- The competition in weightlifting men's 77kg class Thursday are expected to be one of the most competitive events at the Athens Games, with seven of the 12 strongmen participating had declared entry total of 370kg.

    Double Olympic gold medallist Zhan Xugang tries to join Pyrros Dimas and Akakios Kakiasvili of Greece, Halil Mutlu and Maim Suleymanoglu of Turkey in the elite triple gold club.

    Zhan won the gold in Sydney, beating Viktor Mitrou of Greece onbodyweight difference. Silver medallist Mitrou is seeking to reverse the result in Athens.

    In the women's 69kg division, Chinese strongwomen's team is looking Liu Chunhong for its second gold in Athens. The 19-year-old Liu is the present world champion, a title she won by setting three new world records in Vancouver last November.

    At the World Championships in Vancouver, Liu's main opponent was Hungarian Eszter Krutzler, who was second in total by setting a new European record. Well behind Liu at the championships, she is trying a strong performance in Athens. Enditem