|
 |   |
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Multimedia Central Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities Work in Sports
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE
|  |
China's Ding crowned "strongest woman in the world"
SYDNEY, Sept 22 (AFP) - Just call her the strongest woman in the world. Mighty Chinese Ding Meiyuan went on a world record breaking spree to lift the super-heavyweight category in Olympic women's weightlifting on Friday and complete a clean sweep of golds for her country. World champion Ding created new world marks in the snatch, clean and jerk and overall total to overcome the challenge of teenaged Pole Agata Wrobel who had started as favourite after a sensational run of form. Ding, 20, took gold in a pulsating, power packed performance with a total of 300kg (135kg-165kg) in the 75kg+ division. Wrobel totalled 295kg (132.5kg-162.5kg) in coming second with American Cheryl Haworth, a chat show celebrity in the US with a penchant for lifting cars about parking lots, taking the bronze medal on 270kg (125kg-145kg). "I was very nervous (today) but I am pleased to win gold. I wish to thank all the people in China for their support - my parents will be very happy for my achievement," said the modest Ding. "I started lifting out of curiosity and loved it so much I just carried on. I have no secret (for my strength) or special diet - just hard work." Haworth, 19, said that she hoped her bronze medal winning performance would mark her down as a role model for young people in the United States. "I hope this can get me more noticed as a role model and encourage more girls in the US to take up weightlifting which is a great sport," said Haworth, who is nicknamed 'Fun'. "There is too much attention on glamour girls - I am 300 pounds (in weight) and life has not been that difficult for me. I have a lot of friends and have fun." Ding completed a full house of gold medals for China in the four categories in which they had lifters. Rules, aimed at keeping down the numbers, limited each country to four lifters over the seven events in the Olympic debut of women's weightlifting. Yang Xia, Chen Xiaomin and Lin Weining took the other three golds for China in the 53kg, 63kg and 69kg caategories respectively. Chen praised the talented lifters who were left at home describing them as the "unsung heroines" of the country. Wrobel, whose stunning displays in the Junior World Championships earlier this year propelled her into the spotlight, weighed in at amazing 119.42kg (about 246lbs), 16kgs heavier than her nearest rival Ding. But it was Ding who proved superior by winning an incredible battle in the clean and jerk which saw the female heavies exchange world records. Ding gave Wrobel a target to shoot at with a new world record lift of 165kg but the Pole, who had created a new mark minutes earlier, failed in the gold medal attempt on 170kg. The muscled madames set the stage for a titanic tussle in the snatch category. After nervously failing on her first lift Wrobel, with her hair dreadlocked and patterned into squares, broke her own world record with a mighty lift of 132.5kg. Ding, with a lift in hand thanks to Wrobel's earlier failure, took a pyschological and physical advantage by following the Pole onto the stage and upping the world record by 2.5kg to an astonishing 135kg. The lifters had gone where no women weightlifter had gone before. Wrobel had been the first woman to hoist 130kg in setting a new mark at the World Junior Championships in Prague two months ago. Ding and Wrobel between them set or bettered a total of eight world records and the Chinese became the first woman to lift a total of 300kg - that's equivalent to lifting seven Cathy Freeman's overhead.
|
