Female Korean Lifter Shines at Worlds

“Mt. Chiak Female Hercules” Jang Mi-ran (23, Wonju City) took the world by surprise yet again.

Jang won two gold medals in the total and jerk by lifting 135kg in snatch and 179kg in clean and jerk during the +75kg category of the 2006 Santo Domingo World Weightlifting Championship, Dominica on October 8. She received the silver medal in snatch.

Yesterday’s record has made Jang a two-year world champion, as she won the title in jerk and total at Doha World Weightlifting Championship, Qatar, last November. Jang is the first Korean athlete to be on the winning streak for two years in a row in the World Weightlifting Championship.

She struggled prior to the competition as she suffered from tympanitis and lost about two kilograms. “I still feel sorry about the snatch. I could’ve won three gold medals if I had been a little bit calmer,” she said.

Her victory is all the more welcome as she had fierce competition with her Chinese rival Shuangshuang Mu (23), whom she was pitted against for the title last year.

Shuangshuang Mu lifted a total of 314kg (136kg in snatch and 178kg in jerk) in this year’s event, outdoing Jang Mi-ran by one kilogram in snatch. But the Chinese athlete fell short of Jang’s record by one kilogram in jerk, and the two lifted the same weight in total. For her much heavier weight (130.91kg) than Jang’s (113.52kg), however, Shuangshuang Mu was ranked in second place.

Mu comfortably lifted 130kg whereas Jang initially called 130kg in the first round of snatch and then dropped the weight over her shoulder.

Jang composedly lifted 130kg and 135kg in the second and third rounds, respectively, thus making up for her loss in the first round. Shuangshuang Mu, on the other hand, turned the tables by lifting 136kg in the third round after she failed her attempt at 135kg in the second.

Having missed the gold medal in the snatch by a meager 1kg difference, however, Jang was not discouraged. She went on to lift 170kg and 175kg in the first and second rounds in jerk, leading her rival who lifted 165kg and 172kg.

Jang’s defeat seemed almost certain when Mu, in the third round, surprisingly lifted 178kg, which seemed quite risky. As Mu succeeded, Jang fell behind by 3kg in jerk and 4kg in total.

Jang called 179kg for her last challenge. If she succeeded, she would obtain the gold medal in jerk by leading Mu by one kilogram and win the title in total as well for their weight difference. But if she failed, she would be sent home with three silver medals only.

Cheered by her Korean fans in Dominica, Jang did lift up the weight at a breath and that made Jang the winner.

Jang Mi-ran, the star weightlifting athlete of Korea, settled for the silver medal in the 2004 Athens Olympic Games in the wake of the ambiguous decision of then referee. But as she has gained upward momentum lately, Jang is likely to fare well in the 15th Asian Games Doha this December and the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

uni@donga.com