By Sportswriter Wu Chen
BEIJING, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- Weightlifting powerhouse
China finished its fantastic show on Friday, harvesting two more golds in the
categories which the country had never won at Olympics.
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Cao Lei of China tries a lift during
women's 75kg group A competition of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games
weightlifting event in Beijing, China, Aug. 15, 2008. Cao Lei set the new
Olympic record of women's 75kg snatch with 128 kg.(Xinhua Photo/Yang
Lei) Photo
Gallery>>>
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Cao Lei claimed the women's 75kg title on Friday
afternoon.
Cao, 24, totaled 282kg, 16kg more than the lift of
silver medalist Alla Vazhenina of Kazakhstan who was ranked first by entry
total.
Cao tried to break the total world record of 286kg in
her third jerk attempt, by ordering 159kg, but failed. She later explained that
she could not focus on the last attempt because she thought of her mother, who
passed away not long ago.
Cao, two-time world champion, dominated the field as
she snatched 128kg, and jerked 154kg, breaking three Olympic records.
"I dedicate the gold to my mom," said the
"weightlifting beauty" after the game.
The bronze went to Russian strongwoman Nadezda
Evstyukhina, who cleared 264kg.
Later in the evening, Lu Yong was crowned in the
men's 85kg category, winning China's eighth weightlifting gold in the Games and
broke the jinx that China had never won gold in the heavyweight categories at
Olympics.
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Lu Yong of China tries a lift during the
men's 85kg group A competition of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games
weightlifting event in Beijing, China, Aug. 15, 2008. Lu Yong won the gold
with a total of 394 kg.(Xinhua/Yang Lei) Photo
Gallery>>> |
After a breath-taking moment, the 22-year-old lifted
a total of 394kg, beating two-time world champion and Athens silver medalist
Andrei Rybakou of Belarus with bodyweight advantage.
Rybakou broke his own world record of total,
bettering it by one kilo.
Lu's second jerk attempt of 214kg, which would make
him claim the title, was ruled out by the jury members as "bad". But Lu stood
the tests and made a successful attempt in his last chance.
Armenian Tigran Varban Martirosyan got the bronze
also because of bodyweight advantage over Kazakhstan's Vladimir Sedov.
Martirosyan snatched 177kg, and jerked 203, totaling
380kg.
China sent 10 lifters to compete in nine categories
in the Beijing Olympics and pocketed eight golds, three more than that at the
Athens Games.
All the Chinese women lifters competing at the Games
got golds.
Chen Xiexia's win in the women's 48kg category was
the first gold for the weightlifting team, and also for the whole Chinese
delegation at Beijing Olympics. Chen Yanqing won the women's 56kg, becoming the
first strongwoman to successfully defend her Olympic champion title.
Liu Chunhong broke three world records to claim the
title in women's 69kg class, becoming the first Chinese to break world record in
Beijing.
Chinese women's weightlifting team coach Ma Wenhui
said it's not easy for the strongwomen to achieve a sweep.
"They all have tried their best," Ma said, adding
that hard work and better strategy contributed to the success.
"We made tactics together with athletes by discussing
with them every weight we ordered," he said.
The men lifters also did a good job by winning four
golds and one silver.
The gold medalists were Long Qingquan in the 58kg
category, Zhang Xiangxiang in 62kg, Liao Hui in 69kg and Lu Yong in 85kg
classes. Li Hongli got a silver in 77kg category.
Chinese weightlifting team leader Ma Wenguang said he
was satisfied with the athletes' performance.
"I'm happy to see that among the gold medalists, many
are young lifters," he said, adding it's important for China's weightlifting to
make a sustainable development.
However, he denied the title of "dream team".
"Many opponents didn't make their best performance
and there are still problems in our lifters," he said.
There are still four golds on table in the upcoming
events.