China’s Deng Wei won the women’s 63kg weightlifting by breaking two world records in just five lifts at the Rio Olympics on Tuesday. “I am very excited and very thrilled to win this medal”.
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“I felt they were fighting more than me”, he said of the protesters.
“I haven t heard anything about reports of her failing a dope test. I feel really bad for her and I hope to meet her in future Games”, she added.
Deng, 23, lifted 147kg to break her own clean-and-jerk record from 2015 by 1kg, and the total broke Lin Tzu-chi’s 261kg mark from 2014.
However, when the final entry sheet was published she was a surprise omission. The International Weightlifting Federation had threatened to ban Kazakhstan and Belarus, too, but failed because various doping cases were not processed in time for the Olympics.
Olympic officials were unable to immediately confirm reports that she had failed a doping test.
Lin’s sample had shown an “abnormal reaction”, the report said.
Marina de la Caridad Rodriguez Mitjan, of Cuba, reacts to an unsuccessful attempt in the women’s 63kg weightlifting competition at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2016.
Deng is the first Chinese athlete to win a medal in the event since 2000 and far outstripped the silver medalist, North Korea’s Choe Huo Sim, who hefted a total of 248 kilograms (546 pounds), and the bronze victor, Kazakhstan’s Karina Goricheva, who lifted a total of 243 kilograms (535 pounds).
Deng Wei was the easiest victor of the week, finishing with a lift to spare.
“Because this is my first Olympic Games, I was quite nervous”, Deng said.
Deng hoisted a combined total of 262 kg in Rio on Tuesday, breaking the record held by Lin, who was a surprise late withdrawal from the competition.
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Kazakhstan’s involvement in the weightlifting had been in major doubt in the run-up to the Games due to a number of high-profile positive doping cases.
