Lu double gives China weightlifting `revenge`
Baku, August 2 (AZERTAC). The only weightlifting gold medal that China failed to win at the Beijing Olympics was in the men`s 77-kilogram category, so they sent two lifters to London to make sure it didn`t happen again.
One would have been enough.
Lu Xiaojun smashed two world records Wednesday in the most emphatic victory yet in the weightlifting competition. His teammate compatriot Lu Haojie was a distant second, but he was still 11 kilograms ahead of bronze medalist Ivan Cambar Rodriguez of Cuba."As long as the gold is to China, it`s OK," Lu Haojie said.
The man who denied China its ninth gold medal in nine attempts in Beijing—Sa Jae-hyouk of South Korea—was injured in the snatch as his right arm buckled at the elbow. He abandoned the competition and was taken to hospital for a checkup.
Meanwhile, the Chinese duel for gold turned into a one-man show as Lu Xiaojun lifted 175 kilograms in the snatch, beating his own world record by a kilogram. The 28-year-old then took 204 kilograms in the second half of the competition, the clean and jerk, to finish with a total of 379 kilograms, also a world record.
Afterward, Lu Xiaojun talked more about the other Lu, seven years his younger, than himself. He said his teammate`s progress was "incredible" and noted that Lu Haojie beat him at the Chinese national championships this year.
The younger Lu confirmed that the reason China entered two competitors in the 77-kilogram class was to get the gold medal back from Sa. China was allowed to enter the maximum of 10 lifters in 15 weight categories.
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