China Sweeps 5 Golds, Greek Breaks World Record on 3rd Day of Worlds

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, November 22, 2002

China Sweeps 5 Golds, Greek Breaks World Record on 3rd Day of Worlds

Weightlifting powerhouse China geared up on the gold-collecting fast track Thursday in Warsaw by sweeping five of the six golds at stake at the weightlifting worlds.

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Weightlifting powerhouse China geared up on the gold-collecting fast track Thursday in Warsaw by sweeping five of the six golds at stake at the weightlifting worlds.

The other gold went to Greek medical student Anastasia Tsakiri who upgraded the women's 63kg jerk world record of 135.5kgs to 136kgs.

Now, 21 gold medals have been taken by the lifters at the 45-gold championships. China topped the gold tally with 16, followed by DPR Korea with four, Greece one.

Chinese strongmen Chen Chufu and Zhang Guozheng swept the men's 69kg snatch, jerk and total golds and silvers this evening.

Chen, 22, cleared 150kgs, 155kgs and 157.5kgs in his first, second and third attempt to claim the snatch title.

Zhang, 28, took the silver by snatching 150kgs, 155kgs in his first and second attempt but failed to overcome 157.5kgs in the third attempt.

In the clean and jerk competition, Bulgarian Galabin Boevski who made the world record of 196.5kgs at the Sydney Olympics, stunned the spectators by failing in all the three attempts on 187.5kgs and 192.5kgs without any score.

Chinese men's team coach Chen Wenbin said that Boevski suffereda leg injury recently and he had to change his coach who was involved in doping scandals.

Boevski's lackluster performance changed the competition to a duel between the two Chinese athletes, Chen and Zhang.

Chen, who is not as strong as Zhang in the jerk, cleared 187.5kgs but Zhang overcame 192.5kgs, not only taking the gold of the jerk but also claiming the title of the total.

"This is the first time for me to become a world champion sinceI began to attend weightlifting worlds in 1998," Zhang said.

Chen Wenbin said: "Zhang was such a lifter that used to be the best one in training but far from titles in competitions."

"Zhang is getting more and more mature on the platform. He has waited for today's triumph for five years," he added.

In women's 63kg, Tsakiri, a medical student, lifted 136kgs in her third attempt to break the women's 63kg jerk world record of 135.5kgs and took the jerk gold.

Liu Xia, who jerked 135.5kgs at the Busan Asiad in October, failed to overcome the weight of 137.5kgs in her third attempt andfinished second with 135kgs in an extremely tough duel with Tsakiri. But Liu captured the snatch gold with 107.5 kgs and the total gold with 242.5 kgs.

Tsakiri, 23, was the jerk champion at the world weightlifting championships in Antalya, Turkey in 2001. But at that time, she lifted only 125kgs.

"I have practised in the weightlifting for eight years and my best result in both the competitions and trainings before was 135kgs." Tsakiri said after the competition.

"I didn't expect to break the record but I made it. I feel thateverything around me is broken now." She said in a smile.

"As a student, I can't practise all day. I spend two hours in the morning and five hours in the evening on training. I also receive trainings in vacations." She said.

"In a bid to prepare for this world championships, I have geared up since August and it works," she added.

During this evening's competition, Tsakiri's lifting style was also quite different from others. In her every attempt, she bent down grasping the bar and did not make any move until the countdown approached the ninth second. Then she suddenly jerked the barbell to her shoulder.

When spectators stared at her, waiting to see the explosive push, the Greek stood still again for quite a long time before thedecisive move.

"I hope I will keep my shape and form at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games," the pretty girl said at the press briefing.

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