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All-Female heavy metal band set Olympics throbbing
SYDNEY, Sept 23 (AFP) - "Bar Belles", the all-girl heavy metal band of lifters, were the surprise stars of opening week in the Sydney Olympics. Welcomed to their Games debut with bouquets, they survived the brickbats when the first ever Olympic gold winner was stripped of her medal for drug use and emerged with rave reviews after mighty Chinese Ding Meiyuan was crowned the "strongest woman in the world." From delicate flowers weighing under 50kgs to great Redwoods tipping the scales at 140kgs (about 300lbs), the "Bar Belles" captivated with a mixture of femininity and ferocity. They matched their male counterparts in the grin, grip it and lift it department but also laced their displays with feminine charm. Ding's victory in the superheavyweight category completed a golden harvest of four first places for China in the seven categories. So powerful were the Chinese that it was widely accepted that they would have gone close to completing the clean sweep of seven golds if their squad had not been restricted to four competitors by a rule aimed at keeping down numbers. China left behind several world champions and record holders and gold medallist Chen Xiaomin described those on the sidelines as "unsung heroines" of the country. Yang Xia and Lin Weining were the other two Chinese gold medallists. Weightlifting for women has blossomed since the first World Championships in 1987 and it was fitting that the organisers presented every contestant, and female member of the audience, with a single flower before the start of the 48kg division. Bulgaria's Izabela Dragneva took the history making first gold and exclaimed she was "proud to be a woman." The 28-year-old mother, the 1999 European champion in the 53kg division who lost more than 5kgs to compete in the lower weight category, only had two days to savour her win before being stripped of her medal for using a banned diuretic. American Tara Nott, who dabbled in gymnastics and soccer before taking up weightlifting, was promoted from silver to gold medal position and will go down in the record books as the first Olympic champion in women's weightlifting. "I would obviously want to win the gold on the platform, but it's good news to know that those who cheat are getting caught," said Nott, 28. "It will mean that some day we will have a level playing field, and myself and others will be able to win on the platform, rather than after a drug test." Women's weightlifting also produced a first ever Olympic gold for Colombia with veteran Maria Isabel Urrutia triumphing in the 75kg division and the first Games medal for an Indian woman, a bronze from Karnam Malleswari in the 69kg. In the lower weight categories, lifters from Thailand, Indonesia and Taiwan held their own against their big sisters from China and Eastern Europe. Indonesia's Lisa Raema Rumbewas took silver (after Dragneva's disqualification) and Sri Indriyani and Winarni Binti Slamet captured bronze medals. Thailand's Khassaraporn Suta, a naval officer, was given an instant promotion after her bronze medal display. Taiwan's Li Feng-ying took silver, narrowly missing out on a first gold for the country, and compatriot Kuo Yi-hang captured a bronze. The contradictory nature of women's weightlifting was summed up in a cameo from Nigeria's Franca Gbodo. After failing to lift a weight that would have put her in bronze medal contention in the 53kg category, she swore audibly. Then, demurely, she bowed her head in apology before prancing off stage with a wave to the cheering crowd.
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