Taiwan captured its first medal yesterday of the Sydney Games when weightlifter Li Feng-ying (黎鋒英) won the silver in the women's 53kg weightlifting competition, falling over 10kg short of her former teammate, China's Yang Xia (楊霞).
Li won the the silver with a combined lift of 212.5kg, which included a 97.5kg average for the snatch category and a lift of 115kg in the clean-and-jerk.
Yang Xia, Li's former teammate, who also hails from China's Hunan Province, won the gold yesterday lifting a combined weight of 225kg.
While the competition got off to an interesting start -- when Li initially set a new world record in the snatch competition by lifting 98kg -- she was beaten only minutes later by Yang Xia who lifted 100kg with little trouble, setting a new world record. The previous snatch competition record had been 97.5kg. Yang Xia also set a new world record for the clean-and-jerk by lifting 125kg. The previous world record had been 121.5kg.
In the clean-and-jerk competition, Li had raised the bar to her chest both times when lifting 125kg and 127.5kg. However, she was unable to raise the weight above her head.
"I am not happy but I am not that sad. If I hadn't hurt my knee I would have done much better," Li said.
During the clean-and-jerk competition, camera teams showed Li in her preparation room. There she was slightly contracted in pain and could be seen audibly mumbling "it hurts like hell."
Li and Yang were formerly teammates on the Hunan provincial team from 1990 to 1995.
Li moved to Taiwan in 1995 after she married Chung Yung-chi (
At a post-competition press conference, Li did not say for sure whether she would continue weightlifting.
She did say, however, "I thank the motherland and Taiwan for helping me to become a better athlete."
For winning the silver medal, Li will be awarded NT$6million by the government in Taiwan.
Yang said that she knew ahead of the event what she wanted to achieve.
"Before the competition, my aim was to win the championship and then break the record," Yang said.
Regarding her former team member, Li, Yang said, "We come from the same province in China, we participate in the same championships. On the stage we are competing but off the stage we are friends."
Li finished 12.5kg behind Yang, a huge difference in a sport where the top lifters are rarely separated by more than a couple of kilos.
Indonesia's Winarni Binti Slamet took home the bronze with a combined lift of 202.5kg.
Yang's gold medal was the first of what is expected to be four golds in women's weightlifting in the Games for China, by far the dominant country in the sport. In the last 13 world championships, China has won 240 golds to 17 for runner-up Taiwan.
Taiwan's first-ever Olympic weightlifting medal was won by male weightlifter Tsai Wen-yi (
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