Taiwanese Olympic gold medalist Kuo Hsing-chun (郭婞淳) on Saturday won her fifth world title at the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, clinching two gold medals and one silver.
Kuo, who competed in the women’s under-59kg division, won a silver medal in the snatch event after lifting 100kg, and then two gold medals with a clean and jerk of 130kg and a combined lift of 230kg.
Kuo also won the IWF World Championship title in 2019, 2018, 2017 and 2013.
Photo: Reuters
Her latest win was her 12th consecutive victory in the under-59kg and under-58kg categories, leaving her unbeaten since she finished third at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
The competition consists of two parts: the snatch, in which an athlete lifts the bar from the floor to above their head in one movement, and the clean and jerk, which requires the athlete to first bring the bar to their chest before jerking it over their head.
Athletes compete by performing each of the two types of lifts three times and adding together the heaviest weight lifted in each. The person who scores the highest combined weight wins the competition.
On Saturday, Kuo lifted 97kg in her first attempt in the snatch, which was heavier than any of the attempts of her opponents.
She settled for a best of 100kg made in her second attempt after an unsuccessful third attempt.
Mariia Hanhur of Ukraine won the gold after lifting 101kg in her third attempt.
By the time Kuo successfully lifted 128kg in her second attempt in the clean and jerk, she had effectively won the title, as her combined lift outweighed that of her opponents.
In her third attempt, Kuo lifted 130kg to extend her combined lift to 230kg, beating Colombian Yenny Alvarez by 4kg, to take two golds.
All three world records in the women’s under-59kg class are held by Kuo. They are a 110kg snatch, a 140kg clean and jerk and a 247kg total.
Kuo has won 10 golds, five silvers and two bronzes at the World Championships. The number of gold medals she has also surpasses the nine accumulated by former Olympic national weightlifter Chen Jui-lien (陳瑞蓮), making Kuo Taiwan’s top weightlifter.
Considered a national sports hero, Kuo has had a remarkable year, setting two world records at the Asian Championships in April.
She carried Taiwan’s flag during the Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony, where she claimed her first Olympic gold medal.
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