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China Sweep Weightlifting Golds on First Day of EAG
China swept the first two gold medals in the weightlifting tournament of the 3rd East Asian Games on Sunday.
Wu Wenxiong overcame a deficit of 2.5 kilograms in the snatch category and won over Wang Shin-yuan of Chinese Taipei in the men' s 56kg class.
Wu lifted only 122.5kg in the snatch while Wang Shin-yuan snatched 125kg. But Wu Wenxiong lifted 165kg with his third and final attempt in the clean and jerk.
Wu's total of 287.5kg earned him a gold medal. Wang Shin-yuan finished second at 285kg, followed by Kim Sea-hyun of South Korea at 267.5.
"I did quite well in clean and jerk today, but it was terrible in snatch," said Wu, who took part in the Sydney Olympic Games.
"Snatch is my weakpoint and stability is also a problem for me, "said Wu, "I should make more efforts to solve the problems."
Wu Wenxiong becomes the first athlete to break a record at the 3rd East Asian Games. He surpassed the junior world record of clean and jerk. The previous junior world record is 162.5kg set by Zhang Xiangxiang of China.
Wu's teammate Wu Jian took the gold medal of the men's 62kg class. He collected a total of 300kg, beating Kim Young-tae of South Korea to the second place at 275kg.
Wu Jian, who is an international debutante, snatched 140kg, 20kgs more than his only rival Kim after Japan's Tominaga Kenji had been disqualified with three failed lifts.
After lifting 160kg in his second attempt in clean and jerk, Wu Jian has already secured the gold medal. But he failed in his third attempt with the weight of 170kg.
"It is the first time I compete abroad and I felt a little bit nervous," Wu Jian said, "But pressure is good to me and I improved my personal best in the snatch."
Wu Jian said:"After securing the gold medal, I was relaxed and failed in my third attempt. My personal best of clean and jerk is 180kg, but I only lifted 160kg today."
Wu Jian said hard work, excellent training methods and good coaches are the most important reasons why China is so strong in the sport.
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