Gold medalist Liao Hui of China stands on the podium at the awarding ceremony of the men's 69kg final of weightlifting at Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, Aug. 12, 2008.(Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    Liao struggled in the snatch. He claimed 153kg in the first attempt but only lifted it in the second one. As South Korean Lee Baeyoung succeeded at 155kg in his third lift, Liao had to upgrade his attempt to 158 and made it with a loud shout.

    "I am surprised about the gold medal," said Liao, "I failed both my first snatch and jerk because I was a little bit nervous. This is my first Olympics."

    Lee failed to keep pace in the clean and jerk as he hurt his left ankle in the first attempt and quit the competition, leaving Liao, Dabaya-Tientcheu and Martirosyan to fight for the medals.

    Liao jerked 185kg on his second attempt to maintain the lead, but Dabaya-Tientcheu responded with 187kg in his first lift. After Liao finished 190kg in his final attempt, Vencelas had to lift more than 197kg, which is a world record weight.

    "I succeeded at 160kg in snatch and 200kg in the clean and jerk during my training, so I believed that I could lift the 190kg. I just tried to calm down and make no mistake," said Liao.

    Dabaya-Tientcheu failed at his second attempt at 197kg and gave up his third one, giving Liao his first Olympic gold.

    Liao said that he was very nervous because he would lose the gold if Dabaya-Tientcheu succeeded.

    "The Frenchman is a very strong lifter. He lifted the 187kg easily, which scared me," said Liao. "I was quite worried that he could lift the 197kg. I had finished all my three attempts and had no chance to fight back. "

    "I am lucky that he didn't," added Liao.

    "Thing went so fast in the competition, I had no time to think, but just went out there to lift 197kg," said Dabaya-Tientcheu, "but I never succeeded at such weight, even during my training session. The weight is too much for me."

    "The Chinese made a great tactical performance. Usually they are physically strong, but today they were tactically perfect as well," he added.

    Dabaya-Tientcheu, who used to represent Cameroon, finished fifth in Athens 2004 but won the 2006 World Championships at Santo Domingo, Dominica. He also won the 2007 European Championships at Strasbourg, France.

    "But I won't give up. I will be stronger after four years," added Dabaya-Tientcheu.

    Men's 69kg is the only division where powerhouse China entered two players. Shi Zhiyong, who won the title of men's 62kg in Athens and switched to 69kg after that, lifted 152kg in the snatch and quit the competition before the clean and jerk battle.