‘DEAR LEADER’ HAS PAK CHOOSING GOLD
Gulf Times
13 August, 2008, 01:28 AM Doha Time
Qatar
Pak Hyon Suk of DPR Korea holds up 135 kg in the clean and jerk portion
of the women’s 63 kg class in Beijing yesterday. Pak won the gold
medal. (UPI BEIJING: Pak Hyon-Suk overcame certain elimination to win
North Korea’s first weightlifting gold medal at the Beijing Olympics
yesterday, as Liao Hui hoisted China to their fifth lifting title here.
Fearful of losing and driven by a desire to please North Korea’s "Dear
Leader", the 23-year-old Pak delivered the goods in a heart-stopping
finish.
After two missed attempts, she had faced either elimination or victory
as she walked up to the bar for the last time to attempt 135kg in
the clean and jerk.
She needed to get the bar up to overhaul Irina Nekrassova of
Kazakhstan, who had finished with a 240kg total and eventually ended
with the silver.
Taiwan’s Lu Ying-Chi won the bronze. After failing at the same weight
twice, the North Korean was finally successful with her do-or-die
final lift to eclipse Nekrassova by just one kilogram.
"I just kept it in my head that my Dear General’s eyes would be
watching over me, and that encouraged me to lift this weight," she
said, referring to North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-Il who is invariably
called "Dear Leader" or "Dear General" by his people.
The pressure was on her to produce after North Korean lifters had
all failed in the first three days of competition, including world
champion Cha Kum-Chol in the men’s 56kg.
Meanwhile, 20-year-old Liao won China’s fifth weightlifting gold in
an equally dramatic finish that also saw former Chinese world champion
Shi Zhiyong withdraw from the clean and jerk portion of the contest.
Warned by his parents he would become a dwarf if he pursued the sport,
Liao hoisted 158kg in the snatch and 190kg in the clean and jerk for
a total of 348kg and reflected on what could have been had he followed
his parents’ advice instead of that of his coach.
"Because they had traditional ideas that I would not grow tall and
become very short and fat, they tried to discourage me from lifting
weights," Liao said.
In the end the persistent provincial coach prevailed on the parents
and Liao shot from obscurity in Hubei province over three years to
make the national team.
However, he was made to sweat after completing his lifts as Vencelas
Dabaya-Tientcheu of France, who was running in second place with an
interim total of 338kg, made an audacious play for the gold with two
chances for clean and jerk lift of 197kg.
"I saw how he lifted 187kg (the Frenchman’s first clean and jerk
lift) easily and realised that he was a very strong opponent. I was
worried," Liao said. "I was in a bad position because my second lift
was inferior. I was really nervous and was waiting for something
to happen."
The Frenchman failed in the first attempt, however, and decided not
to try again, having already assured himself of the silver medal.
"Today I had no choice but to go for 197kg," Dabaya-Tientcheu said.
"I had never lifted that much but I believe I got closer to that
today."
Junior world champion Tigran Martirosyan of Armenia won the bronze,
also with a total of 338kg but he had a slightly higher body weight
than the Frenchman.
Martirosyan said he was weakened by having to lose 8kg of his body
weight to make the 69kg cut.