Chinese weightlifter Liu Chunhong has held the Asian crown since the 2002 Asian Games and will be going for gold today. [China Daily] |
She switched to weightlifting because she was deemed too short for judo, but Shandong province native Liu Chunhong is aiming for the top in the women's 69kg at the Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics Gymnasium today.
The 23-year-old and self-professed cartoon fan has held the Asian crown since the 2002 Asian Games in Busan.
Liu made a clean sweep of the snatch, clean and jerk and combined gold medals in the 75kg category in at the 2005 World Championship in Busan. Her lift of 151kg in the clean and jerk and 273kg combined lift also set new world junior records. She has a best total of 275kg, and was the snatch champion at last year's Worlds in Thailand with 121kg.
She walks into the gymnasium today hoping to match the success of Chinese weightlifters at this Games so far, most notably Chen Yanqing, who won her second gold in the women's 58kg and broke the Olympic record at the same time.
But to win a second Olympic medal, Liu will first need to go past Oxana Slivenko from Russia, because the two are matched in both age and power.
Slivenko bagged two consecutive wins in the 69kg category at the Worlds in 2006 and 2007. What is more, the 22-year-old Russian is the world record holder of the category with a total of 276kg in the same Worlds in Thailand.
Liu and Slivenko dueled at last year's Worlds which saw the Russian setting a snatch world record of 123kg. Liu was not far behind her.
Still, the fact that Slivenko has nominated the relatively low entry total of 250kg may mean she is not in top form.
Other than the anticipated clash of these two titans, Ukraine's Natalya Davydova is seen as the front-runner for a bronze, with a consistent total mark of about 240kg.
Also in contention for the bronze is Hanna Batsiushka, who won the silver medal in Athens 32.5kg behind Liu.
Hong Yong-ok from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, who was placed fourth at last year's Worlds with 238kg, is also considered a medal possibility.
In the men's arena, China's Li Hongli is gunning for an Olympic gold to add to his impressive wins in the 77kg category. The 27-year-old from Hunan province has won medals at the World Championships since 2003, including a gold in 2005.
He is also the champion for the 2006 Asian Games in Doha and 2007 Asian championships. The powerhouse has consistently totaled above 360kg, with a recent high of 369kg.
Li's main opponent will be Taner Sagir from Turkey, the champion at the Athens Games with a total of 375kg. This Games will also be the last chance for Oleg Perepechenov from Russia to win a gold medal after winning the European championships earlier this year with 362kg.