Source: beijing2008.cn
08-09-2008 10:15
Special Report: 2008 Beijing Olympic Games(BEIJING, August 8) -- The first gold medal of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games could come from the Women's 48 kilogram Weightlifting final, which starts on August 9 at 10 a.m. (UTC/GMT +8). Fourteen weightlifters from 11 countries will try to grab the first gold for their delegations.
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| Can Nurcan Taylan defend her trophy? (Photo credit: Getty) |
Twenty-four-year old Nurcan Taylan was the Turkish delight at the Athens Games four years ago when she was crowned in the 48kg weight class. At those Olympics she set a new world record, lifting a total weight of 210kg and surpassing Li Zhuo of China by 5kg. However, her success has since faded and she never returned to that same performance level. Her chances of retaining the title in Beijing are low.
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| Chen Xiexia is favored to win. (Photo credit: CFP) |
Taylan's decline was contrasted by the rise of Chinese weightlifters, who dominated this weight class in all major international competitions in the past four years. These lifters include 2007 World Champion Chen Xiexia, 2005 World Champion Wang Mingjuan, and world record holder for total weight (217kg) Yang Lian. China chose Chen the world record holder for the Clean and Jerk (120kg), to represent them in these Olympics. The 25-year-old has performed consistently since her emergence in 2007 as a world-class lifter.
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| Thailand's Pensiri Laosirikul (left) (Photo credit: Getty) |
Another rising power in Women's Weightlifting is Thailand, who chose 2007 World Championships 48kg silver medalist Pramsiri Bunphithak and bronze winner Pensiri Laosirikul to compete in Beijing. In that tournament they respectively trailed behind gold medalist Chen Xiexia by 18kg and 19kg in the total. Laosirikul was also the silver medalist at the 2006 Doha Asian Games.
Chen's best personal record is 214kg in total weight, at least 15kg more than the personal bests of her Thai competitors. She is the most favored to win in this class.
Other medal candidates are Sibel Özkan (entry total 200kg) of Turkey, Im Jyoung-Hwa (entry total 197kg) of Republic of Korea and Hiromi Miyake (entry total 195kg) of Japan.
The compete list of lifters is:
Pramsiri Bunphithak, Thailand
Chen Wei Ling, Chinese Taipei
Chen Xiexia, China
Marilou Dozois-Prevost, Canada
Marzena Karpinska, Poland
Im Jyoung-Hwa, Republic of Korea
Pensiri Laosirikul, Thailand
Hiromi Miyake, Japan
Karla Moreno, Nicaragua
Melanie Noel, France
Misaki Oshiro, Japan
Sibel Özkan, Turkey
Genny Caterina Pagliaro, Italy
Nurcan Taylan, Turkey
Editor:Liu Fang
