 South Korean weightlifter Sa Jae-hyouk lifts 163 kilograms in his second trial of the men's 77-kilogram division final. Sa won a gold medal. It is South Korea's first Olympic gold in the sport since Jeon Byung-gwan won at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992. / Korea Times |
By Kang Seung-woo
Staff Reporter
South Korea is etching its name with China and the United States among the sports powers.
On Wednesday, weightlifter Sa Jae-hyouk brought home a gold medal in the men's 77-kilogram division final of the Beijing Olympics.
It is South Korea's sixth gold medal in the Summer Games and it means that the Northeast Asian country has picked up at least one gold every day since the Olympics started.
In the final round, Sa lifted 366 kilograms in total ― 163 in the snatch and 203 in the clean and jerk ― to tie with China's Li Hongli, but his weight, 450 grams lighter than Li, earned him the Olympic championship.
Finishing third in the snatch, the 23-year-old hoisted 201 kilograms in his first clean and jerk trial and next made it with a 203.
His gold is the first feat in the sport since Jeon Byung-gwan won in the 56-kilogram division at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992.
South Korea's baseball squad came back from behind to defeat the United States 8-7 on Lee Jong-wook's sacrifice fly in the ninth inning.
After allowing the 7-6 lead in the top of the ninth, they equaled the match on Lee Taek-keun's fielder's choice and with a runner on third, Lee Jong-wook flied out to center, bringing the runner home to end the game.
South Korea's Lee Kyung-won and Lee Hyo-jung advanced to the women's badminton doubles final at the Beijing Olympics Wednesday.
The fourth-ranked duo defeated Japan's Miyuki Maeda and Satoko Suetsuna 22-20, 21-15 in a match.
It is the first time for South Korean women to reach the championship match since Gil Young-ah and Jang Hye-ock did so at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996.
The pair will face a Chinese duo for the Olympic title.
The women's handball team has almost secured a quarterfinal berth.
In its third qualifier, the Lim Young-chul-led unit downed Olympic rookie Sweden 31-23 to reap a two-consecutive win stretch after an improbable tie with Russia.
Archers Park Kyung-mo, Im Dong-hyun and Lee Chang-hwan are closing in on South Korea's first men's individual title in the Olympics by all three making it to the round of 16.
However, the highly-hyped South Korean football team suffered an early exit.
In its final qualifier of Group D against winless Honduras, South Korea won 1-0 on Zenit St. Petersburg defender Kim Dong-jin's winning goal to finish third with 1-1-1 in the pool.
Cameroon played to a scoreless draw with group-leading Italy, and took the runner-up place to advance to the round of eight with a 1-2-0 mark.
ksw@koreatimes.co.kr
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