The Official Website of the Beijing 2008 Olympic GamesAugust 8-24 2008
(BEIJING, August 13) -- Sa Jae-hyouk of the Republic of Korea ended China's six-for-six winning streak in Weightlifting after claiming a stunning gold in the Men's 77 kilogram category on Wednesday, August 13.
Earlier the same day, defending champion Liu Chunhong of China broke three world records en route to a Women's 69kg Weightlifting gold, propelling China's weightlifting gold tally to an historic high of six.
Liu lifted 128kg in the Snatch and 158kg in the Clean and Jerk to make it 286kg for the total weight, breaking all three world records. Russia's Oxana Slivenko, who held the world Snatch and total weight records, finished second in this competition at 255kg. Natalya Davydova of Ukraine got the bronze with a total of 250kg.
While Liu cruised through her Women's 69kg victory, the Men's 77kg was a much closer competition. Entering the tournament as an underdog, Sa triumphed by combining 163kg in the Snatch and 203kg in the Clean and Jerk for a total of 366kg. Li Hongli of China lifted the same total weight but fell short of the gold due to a higher pre-competition weigh-in.
"I can't even believe that I have won the Gold medal." said an exhilarated Sa. "(But) I was very confident. Before this event, during practice, I lifted 210kg."
"The Chinese lifter (Li Hongli) was very strong but I didn't want to lose."
Defending champion Taner Sağır of Turkey, who was heavily favored in the Men's 77kg weight class, bombed-out in the Snatch and was eliminated from competition.
Athens bronze winner Oleg Perepetchenov of Russia, who holds the Clean and Jerk world record, also failed to make the podium after a disappointing fifth place finish.
