Taiwan weightlifter Kuo Hsing-chun (郭婞淳) secured two gold medals and one silver in the women’s 59kg category at the World Weightlifting Championships on Saturday, setting world records ahead of the Tokyo Olympics next year.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) sent Kuo a congratulatory note after she heard about the performance at the event in Pattaya, Thailand, the Sports Administration said.
Kuo on Saturday won silver with a 106kg snatch, equaling the world record she set at last year’s championships.
Photo: Wang Yuan-hung, Taipei Times
However, North Korean Choe Hyo-sim, who previously competed in the 63kg category and was a silver medalist at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, overshadowed the record with a lift of 107kg to take gold.
Kuo’s strength in the clean and jerk was demonstrated when she lifted 133kg on her first attempt before she tied the world record she set last year by lifting 137kg. Choe responded with 138kg.
However, Kuo thwarted Choe’s bid for another gold by lifting 140kg to claim the win, which gave her a combined total of 246kg, also a world record.
Kuo won two golds and a silver at the World Championships in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, last year. In April, she won three medals at the Asian World Weightlifting Championships in Ningbo, China, setting world records in the 59kg snatch (106kg), clean and jerk (137kg) and the combined total (243kg).
To be eligible for Tokyo, International Weightlifting Federation rules require athletes to compete at six qualification events. They must compete at a minimum of one championship event in each of three periods: Nov. 1 last year to April 30, May 1 to Oct. 31 and from Nov. 1 to April 4 next year. Their qualification score would be calculated by adding up the points from their four best performances, with the top eight granted an Olympic spot.
The Sports Administration said that as of Monday last week, Kuo was No. 5 in terms of qualification points.
The Sports Administration said it has worked with the National Sports Training Center to help the Chinese Taipei Weightlifting Association to select and training athletes to prepare for Olympic qualifiers.
Kuo has a customized training plan, as she is among the nation’s athletes with great potential to win golds, it said.
Top coaches from China have been part of the weightlifting team to help athletes overcome barriers, while the government would make sure that all resources would be made available to help them compete, the Sports Administration said.
Taiwanese athletes in four sports — shooting, archery, track and field, and swimming — have qualified for Tokyo so far, it said.
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