Thailand’s Sopita Tanasan blew away the opposition to grab the first gold medal of the weightlifting competition at the Rio Games yesterday. “That is the Thai way”, Sopita told reporters after she became the fourth women’s weightlifter from Thailand to win an Olympic gold medal.
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Russia’s Olympic ban and China’s ruthless selection policy helped pave the way for Thailand’s Sopita Tanasan win the first weightlifting gold medal of the Rio Games in the women’s 48kg on Saturday.
She took full advantage of the controversial absence of China’s 19-year-old talent Hou Zhihui, who made a tearful exit from Rio 2016 just days after she had arrived.
Hou injured her knee in July but thought she had recovered enough to compete.
Indonesian weight lifter, Sri Wahyuni Agustiani, won the country’s first medallion in the 2016 Olympic Games.
Miyake, whose father won bronze at the 1968 Mexico Games, hoisted 81 on her third snatch attempt and 107 in the clean and jerk on her third effort.
Sri Wahyuni Agustiani of Indonesia takes the silver with a total of 192kg (423 lbs), while Hiromi Miyake of Japan earned the bronze with a total of 188kg (414.4 lbs).
The Thai had taken a seven kilograms lead into the clean-and-jerk with a best of 92kg ahead of Agustiani and Piron Candelario, who had managed 85kg.
“I was surprised that she was going for it but I was still very confident I was going to win”, Sopita said afterwards.
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Another of Sopita’s strongest rivals, Vietnam’s Thi Huyen Vuong, failed to register a total after three failures in the snatch.
