Jang Suffers Sleepless Night After Winning 4th World Title

“I had a sleepless night. I couldn’t sleep because of overexcitement.”

Champion weightlifter Jang Mi-ran sounded relaxed yesterday after winning her fourth consecutive world title in the northern Seoul suburb of Goyang in record fashion.

The 26-year-old was enjoying a cup of coffee at a café Saturday afternoon near the Korea International Exhibition Center, the site of this year’s World Weightlifting Championships, amid winter rain.

Q: You failed in your first attempts in both the snatch and clean and jerk.

Jang: My condition was not bad but I couldn’t help but feel nervous. I felt especially nervous when I attempted the snatch. I failed to reach my goals, but I’m satisfied with the result.

Q: You oftentimes say “competition with myself.” Did you feel pressure as the defending world champion?

Jang: I never thought I’d win the title no matter what. I only thought that I’d reach my goal. I thought it’d be great if I became champion, and if not, I’d congratulate the champion who did better than I. Nevertheless, I felt more pressure since the event took place in Korea.

Q: What is your goal after winning the world championship for four consecutive years?

Jang: I have no specific figure for my weightlifting targets. I only think that I want to add one or two kilograms to my records every year. I hold a world record and it won’t be easy to add one or two kilograms every year rather than lag behind. I’ll continue to improve my records and want to secure a good performance at the 2012 London Olympics.

uni@donga.com