Wang Mingjuan betters world records to win gold medal at Chinese National Games

Wang Mingjuan betters world records to win gold medal at Chinese National Games

Wang Mingjuan of Hunan celebrates on the podium during the awarding ceremony for the women's 48kg weightlifting in the 11th Chinese National Games in Jinan, east China's Shandong Province, Oct. 17, 2009. She betters women's 48kg weightlifting jerk and snatch records and also the total record.

JINAN, East China, Oct. 17 -- Weightlifting world champion Wang Mingjuan beat world record holder Yang Lian to win the women's 48kg division with world records lift at the 11th Chinese National Games here on Saturday.

"My hard work and strong mind brought me this precious gold medal," Wang told the press.

Wang Mingjuan of Hunan celebrates during the women's 48kg weightlifting final in the 11th Chinese National Games in Jinan, east China's Shandong Province, Oct. 17, 2009. She betters women's 48kg weightlifting jerk and snatch records and also the total record.

The 48kg division turned to be a competition between two world champions. Wang Mingjuan, winner in the 2003 and 2005 world championships, lifted 99kg in her last snatch, bettering the world record by one kilogram. The 24-year-old also smashed the national record of the kind.

Then her teammate Yang Lian, gold medalist in the 2006 worlds, snatching 99kg, too.

In the clean and jerk, Wang kept the momentum, hoisting 121kg with a total of 220kg, to beat Yang by two kilos.

Wang, winner in the National Games in 2001, shattered the world records of jerk and total respectively, one kilo and three kilos more than the world records.

"It's so many ups and downs during the eight years. I've never given up when I suffered knee injury and missed the chance to compete in the Olympics," said Wang.

"The competition is much fiercer than I had expected. I made a mistake and looked down on my opponents," said Yang.

"My physical condition is not good since I came here and suffering diarrhoea," she said.

"I had planned to win the gold medal and then retire. But now, I will reconsider my choice.

"Maybe I will fight on," Yang stated.

Wang and Yang are both representing Hunan province in the Chinese National Games. Gao Wei, representing Liaoning, took the bronze at 215kg.

"Wang is a perseverant lifter and she made good lifts today," team leader of Hunan team Liao Suping told Xinhua.

"Yang is passionate on the platform, and Wang is a shy girl with a steady mind. They are on the same level, but today Wang had a better performance," Liao told.

Though smashing three world records, Wang just broke two national records, the snatch and the total.

In Chinese women's weightlifting, 13 of all the 21 national records are higher than the world records of the same kind.

Though bettering weightlifting world records frequently happens in the Chinese National Games, the new results will not be counted as they are not accepted by the International Weightlifting Federation.

(Xinhua)