Podobedova’s dream on triple gold in Total
Due to Polish Dolega’s operation and Kazakh Maneza’s defeat in Paris out of three Podobedova remained the only athlete who can win all three world championships titles presented after Beijing Olympic Games.
In Goyang city (2009) she defeated Chinese Olympic Champion Cao Lei and in Antalya (2010) she won the gold in front of Russian Zabolotnaya. After her last victory she has disappeared, she did not take part at Asian Championships held in Tongling, China and has no result on the 2011 World Ranking list.
But this time she returns to grab her third World Championship gold medal in Total. She must face the famous and hungry Russian tandem of Evstyukhina, European Champion and world ranking list leader in 2011 and Shimkova, Antalya’s World Champion in 69 kg. Last year’s 69 kg silver medalist Kang Yue followed her and moved up to 75 kg. Following Cao Lei and Li Xia she is the next Chinese challenger of Podobedova. Is her penknife sharp enough? Dark horse is Spanish Lidia Valentin the bronze medal winner in Kazan European Championships this year.
