BEIJING, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- China's Chen Xiexia won the women's 48kg weightlifting title, the first gold medal for the host at the Beijing Olympic Games here on Saturday.

    Chen snatched 95kg and jerked 117kg for a winning total of 212kg, a new Olympic record. It's also the country's first Olympic gold in this category.

    "I'm very happy to be informed (it's the first gold for China). It added different meaning to the medal," said Chen.

    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," said the 25-year-old.

    However, Chinese weightlifting team leader Ma Wenguang said he shed tears when Chen successfully made her first attempt in snatch.

    He revealed that Chen was injured 28 days ago during a training session when attempting to jerk 115kg, which she succeeded in her second attempt in Saturday's competition.

    "All the pressure is worthwhile," Ma said.

Chen Xiexia (C) of China, Sibel Ozkan (L) of Turkey and Chen Wei-Ling (R) of Chinese Taipei wave to spectators at the awarding ceremony of the women's 48kg of weightlifting event at Beijing 2008 Olympic Games at the Beijing University of Aeronautics & Astronautics Gymnasium in Beijing, China, Aug. 9, 2008. Chen Xiexia, Sibel Ozkan and Chen Wei-Ling won the gold, silver and bronze medals respectively. (Xinhua/Yang Lei) Photo Gallery>>>

    China's deputy chef-de-mission Cui Dalin said it's a good start for the Chinese delegation as Chen overcome pressure to win the gold.

    "It will be a great inspiration to the whole delegation," he said.

    Chen, gold medallist of the 2007 world championships, was in a good form in Saturday's competition, shouted "Hey! Go!" to cheer herself up before all the six successful attempts she made. All home fans roared and applauded to cheer the hot favorite.

    China has dominated this category by winning 17 gold medals out of the total 19 world championships since 1987, however, it lost the title to Turkey in Athens Games and didn't enter the class at the Sydney Games, when the women's 48kg division was included for the first time.

    Chen played a sure-win game on Saturday in the Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (BUAA) gym, as nobody posed a real threat to her during the event.

    The silver was taken by junior world champion Sibel Ozkan of Turkey at 199kg. Chen Wei-Ling of Chinese Taipei settled for the bronze at 196kg.

    Defending Olympic champion Nurcan Taylan of Turkey and Pramsiri Bunphithak, silver medallist of 2007 World Championships, both of whom had been tipped as Chen's major rivals at the Games, withdrew from the competition as they failed all three attempts in snatch.

Chinese strongwoman Chen Xiexia: save the tears, show the smile

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. Full story

Photo: Chinese 1st gold medallist's parents cheer for daughter

Factbox on Olympic weightlifting champion Chen Xiexia

Results of women's 48kg weightlifting

Factbox on Chinese weightlifting