Chinese weightlifter Shi sets new world record and takes home gold
Simple Olympic glory? Shi Zhiyong felt there wasn’t enough.
Z.Y. Shi Olympic Games Tokyo 2020
On Wednesday, he easily won gold in the men’s 73-kilogram division at the Tokyo Olympics, setting the first weightlifting world record of the games.
Not winning a gold medal is what really motivates me, but rather setting a new personal best. Through an interpreter, Shi remarked, “So that means a lot to me.” I would be disappointed in myself if I didn’t try to beat my own personal best in order to win a gold medal.”
A Total of 364 Kilogrammes lifted,
Shi broke his own world record by one kilogramme and won gold for China at the Olympics for the second year in a row. Second-place finisher Julio Mayora of Venezuela lifted 19 kilogrammes less, but he added his own flourish by trying and failing to break Shi’s record of 198 kilogrammes for the clean and jerk, and then ending the competition with a backflip on stage.
As of yet, the five Chinese weightlifters who have competed in Tokyo have won four gold medals and one silver.
Rahmat Erwin Abdullah of Indonesia won bronze despite lifting in the “B” group, which consists of athletes who have registered lower starting weights, many hours earlier. Abdullah stayed for the evening session as more well-known lifters tried and failed to match his 342 kg total.
He stated, “The only thing I do is simply pray,” adding that his father, who was supposed to lift for Indonesia in the 2004 Olympics but was sidelined with an injury, was an inspiration to him.
Some lifters and their coaches reportedly changed the weights they had picked for lifts after learning about Abdullah’s unexpectedly high total from the earlier session. His name and total weren’t broadcast on the displays in the arena with the “A” competitors, but it counted for places.
After what he called a “awful” snatch round of the competition, C.J. Cummings faced an uphill battle in his effort to become the first American male weightlifting medalist since 1984. Cummings failed to complete a world-record 198 kg clean and jerk.
I have to take all I can from this competition and use it to help me go further; I’m not finished “the former junior world champion said to AP. And I know I can do a lot more.”
