Record-Breaking Weightlifting Victory
North Korea's Ri Song-gum wins gold and sets three world records at Asian Games.
Anonymous
North Korea’s Ri Song-gum won the women’s 49-kilogram weightlifting gold at the Asian Games in Nagoya, giving her country its first title of the competition while setting three world records. She lifted 94 kilograms in the snatch and cleared 116 and 121 kilograms in the clean and jerk for a 215-kilogram total. The victory made Ri the first woman and only the fourth weightlifter overall to win three Asian Games gold medals. India’s Mirabai Chanu won silver with a 198-kilogram total, earning her first Asian Games medal after two unsuccessful appearances, while Indonesia’s Diana Tri Wijayana took bronze with 191 kilograms.
Key Points
1
Ri’s records surpassed newly reset benchmarks introduced by the International Weightlifting Federation on Aug. 1; athletes who exceeded those standards were officially credited with world records.
2
Ri said the medal was driven by expectations from home: “I wanted to lift my country up on these two small shoulders.” She became emotional as North Korea’s anthem played, with a large contingent of Japanese North Korean fans cheering and waving flags.
3
Ri has never competed at the Olympics: North Korea skipped the Tokyo Games because of COVID-19 and did not qualify for weightlifting at Paris 2024. The 49-kilogram category will also be absent from the next Olympic program in Los Angeles.
4
Chanu’s silver ended India’s 28-year wait for an Asian Games weightlifting medal, adding to a career that includes three Commonwealth Games gold medals and a Tokyo Olympic silver.
5
Ri’s 215-kilogram total exceeded the previous total benchmark by 7 kilograms, while her clean-and-jerk records came through two successive lifts of 116 and 121 kilograms after the prior mark stood at 115 kilograms.
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