North Korea’s Lim Eun-sim (27) won her second consecutive Asian Games gold medal in dominant fashion.
Lim won the Women’s Weightlifting 64kg Group A competition at the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games at the Xiaoshan Sports Centre in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China, with a lift of 111kg, a snatch of 140kg and a total of 251kg on Sunday.
Chinese rookie Fei Xin (18), who finished second overall, recorded 234kg (104kg in the lift and 130kg in the snatch), which was 17kg lower than Lim’s total.
Lim was fighting for the record, not the ranking.
After lifting 105kg in the first period to secure the top spot in the category after all other athletes’ lifts were completed, Lim set a new competition record with 111kg in the second period.
She then attempted to break the world record (117kg) held by Deng Wei (CHN) with 118kg in the third period.
However, she missed the barbell this time.
In the long jump, Lim Eun-sim stood on the platform after the other athletes had completed their third period.
After securing the win early with a 135kg lift in the first round, Lim failed to hit 140kg in the second round, but then broke the 140kg barrier in the third round to set a new meet record in both the long jump and the combined event.
South Korea’s Han Jian (28, Daejeon City Athletic Association), who also competed in the event, finished seventh after failing to hit 93kg in the lift, 111kg in the snatch and 204kg in the total.
Lim Eun-sim is a ‘North Korean weightlifting hero’ Lim is the younger sister of North Korea’s weightlifting hero, Lim Jeong Shim (30).
She won the women’s 69kg weightlifting title at the 2012 London Olympics and topped the 75kg category at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games.
At the 2019 World Championships in Pattaya, she won gold in the 76kg category.
At the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta-Palembang, Lim won the women’s 75kg title, while Lim Eun-Sim won gold in the 69kg category.
It was the first time the sisters had competed together in an adult international event and won their first Asian Games gold medals.
After making her international debut at the Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games, Lim Eun-Sim went on to finish second in the 64kg category at the 2019 World Championships in Pattaya.
North Korea has not competed in an international event for four years since the 2019 World Championships in Pattaya.
The country closed its borders to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and was suspended from international competition for not competing at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
North Korean weightlifting made a comeback after four years at the Hangzhou Asian Games.
While Lim did not return, his brother, Lim Eun-sim, stepped in as the leader of the North Korean weightlifting team and took the top spot on the podium.
North Korean athletes have won gold medals in all four weightlifting categories (49kg, 55kg, 59kg, and 64kg) at the Hangzhou Asian Games so far. 토토사이트