Men's weightlifting: Beijing Olympic champion claims gold in 85kg category

Men's weightlifting continues at the 11th National Games. In the 85 kilogram class, Beijing Olympic champion Lu Yong represented Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

He started from 167kg in the snatch event, and succeeded in his first attempt. But Lu Yong nearly made a mistake in his follow-up lift.

He arrived on the court late, and started his lift with only ten seconds left. Still, he conquered 173 kilograms with ease.

Lu Yong is the key player for Guangxi team, and appropriately carries a lot of weight on his shoulders. He wanted to challenge the Asian record at 178 kilograms, but came up short. Moving to the clean and jerk part of the competition...Lu Yong started from 166 kilograms.

After the lift, Lu Yong shouted a confident boast, pointing to his chest and yelling: "Mine...the gold is mine" . He put on another show to challenge 203 kilograms in only his second attempt, and he made a perfect finish.

So Lu Yong lifted 173kg in the snatch event and 203kg in the clean and jerk. His total of 376 helped him claim the gold with ease. This is also his first gold at the National Games. Lu won the silver medal back in the ninth National Games in Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu province.

Lu Yong said, The champion said...his team had several plans before arriving at the match. He and his coaches decided on the weight according to the situation, and the opponents' performance. The other weightlifters didn't put too much pressure on him, so he won the gold easily and showed the strategy paid off. "