 South Korea's Sa Jae-hyouk poses with his gold medal after winning the men's 77-kilogram weightlifting competition at the Beijing Olympics Wednesday. / Yonhap |
By Jonathan Sanfilippo
Staff Reporter
Sa Jaeh-youk came into the Beijing Olympics as an afterthought, someone who had never won a world-level weightlifting competition in his life.
But everything changed on Wednesday night.
The 23-year-old South Korean became a surprising Olympic champion, beating China's Li Hongli to capture the gold medal in the men's 77-kilogram division at the Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics Gymnasium.
Sa and Li each totaled 366 kilograms in their lifts, but the Korean won the gold because of his lighter bodyweight. Li had to settle for the silver, while Armenia's Gevorg Davtyan took the bronze.
Sa lifted 163 kilograms on his second attempt of the snatch and 203 kilograms on his second attempt of the clean and jerk to record his 366-kilogram total.
Meanwhile, Li, who came into the event as a heavy favorite having won several world championships, lifted 168 kilograms on his second attempt of the snatch and 198 on his third attempt in the clean and jerk.
The event was an intense competition with several lifters failing in their attempts to lift heavy weights.
Hungary's Janos Baranyai suffered a dislocated elbow.
jonsanfilippo@koreatimes.com
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