When 259 weightlifters from 87 Beijing Olympic delegations ended their competitions in 15 categories on Tuesday, Asian lifters stunned the world by bagging 13 gold medals and yielding only two to their European counterparts.

In particular, China topped the medal tally with an extraordinary achievement of eight golds, followed by South Korea with two gold medals. Thailand, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), Kazakhstan, Belarus and Germany got one each.

In Athens, the 15 weightlifting golds were roughly split by Asia and Europe as Asian lifters won eight and their European counterparts obtained seven.

China's  Dominance

China dominated the weightlifting events as ten Chinese lifters made amazing performances on their home land, winning eight golds and one silver in all the nine categories they competed.

All the Chinese strongwomen fighting at the Games snatched golds.

Chen Xiexia won in the women's 48kg category, the first gold for the whole Chinese delegation as well as the weightlifting team at Beijing Olympics. Chen Yanqing won the women's 56kg, becoming the first strongwoman to successfully defend her Olympic champion.

Liu Chunhong broke three world records to retain the Olympic title in women's 69kg class, becoming the first Chinese to break a world record in Beijing.

The men lifters also did a good job by winning four golds and one silver.

Long Qingquan won in the 58kg category, Zhang Xiangxiang in 62kg, Liao Hui in 69kg and Lu Yong in 85kg classes. Li Hongli got a silver in 77kg category.

Chinese weightlifting team leader Ma Wenguang said the unique system of selecting potential lifters from across the country is one of the most important factors for the success.

"I'm happy to see that among the gold medalists, many are young lifters," he said, adding it's important for China's weightlifting to make a sustainable development.

Rising Asianpower

In addition to China's dominance, the weightlifting events at the Beijing Olympics saw the rising of three Asian countries: South Korea, the DPRK and Kazakhstan.

South Korean Jang Mi-ran broke three world records to claim the title of "world's strongest woman" on Saturday. She met no opponent in the women's +75kg category as her long-time rival Mu Shuangshuang of China didn't take part in. However, the fantastic power Jang had showed made the Chinese think it's a wise decision to give up this category.

Jang's compatriot Sa Jae-hyouk, 23, beat Chinese veteran Li Hongli to claim title in the men's 77kg on Wednesday.

The country had only got one weightlifting gold in its Olympic history before the Beijing Games.

"The competition between China and South Korea in weightlifting will be more and more intense," said 24-year-old Jang.

DPRK lifter Pak Hyon Suk lifted the country's first Olympic gold in Beijing last Tuesday in the women's 63kg category and her compatriot Jong Ae got a bronze in the women's 58kg class. The country might have achieved more if two male medal hopefuls, including 2007 world champion Cha Kum Chol, had made a normal performance.

Kazakhstan was ranked third on the weightlifting medals table with one gold, two silvers, and one bronze, the best results in its Olympic history.

Kazakhstan will become an important force in weightlifting as it has a team composed of top young lifters, including 20-year-old gold medalist Ilya Ilin and silver medalist Irina Nekrassova and 21-year-old Mariya Grabovetskaya.

Europe's Setback

Europe didn't savor the taste of gold in weightlifting until Monday, in the last-but-one event of men's 105kg. World champion Belarusian lifter Andrei Aramnau, 20, broke three world records to claim the title.

Compared with Asia's fast development, the European lifters' performances were really disappointing at Beijing Olympics.

Two Turkish defending champions dropped off the events after failing three attempts in snatch, several Russian top hands were always one step away from the gold, and the whole Bulgarian team was barred from the Beijing Olympics due to doping scandal.

Some Russian lifters, including two-time world champion Oxana Slivenko, complained about the disadvantage of competing against the host. However, it's not a good reason to explain many of them only lifted a weight some 20kg less than their personal best.

The only two golds grabbed by European strongmen were in the heavy bodyweight categories, in which they have a traditional advantage.

Sam Coffa, vice president of the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF), said the European weightlifters didn't have the same support from their governments as their Asian counterparts do.

However, Europe went halves with Asian in medals as among the total 18 delegations in the medals table, eight from Asia and ten from Europe. Russia, although didn't get a single gold, will go home with four silvers and three bronzes.

Ma Wenguang, who is also an IWF vice president, said at a press conference on Tuesday that each continent takes it turns to dominate.

"Now it seems it's Asia's turn to dominate, but the advantage for Asia is probably only temporary," he said.

He said as more and more countries took part in weightlifting events, more strong forces will appear.

"I think Europe might assume ascendancy again and Latin America too will become strong," he said.

(Xinhua News Agency August 20, 2008)