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Olympic champion Cao Lei easily wins gold at Chinese National Games

Olympic champion Cao Lei breezily won the gold medal in the women's 75kg category at the 11th Chinese National Games weightlifting competition on Monday. Cao, 26, winner in the Beijing Olympics, met almost no challenge throughout the competition. She snatched 125kg, jerked 150kg and lifted a total of 275kg to win the gold. Rookie Xiang Yanmei of Hunan, 17, trying to take two attempts at the winning but nearly impossible 160kg, one kilo more than the jerk world record, failed both times. Xiang, placed fifth in the national championships in April, clinched silver at 261kg and the 23-year-old Qu Huijuan of Liaoning took the bronze at the same weight with the body weight

Liu pocketing her third consecutive gold in the quadrennial National Games

In the women's 69kg division, Olympic champion Liu nailed the gold medal in her first jerk attempt, unnecessary to finish the last two attempts. Her coach Ma Wenhua, also the head coach in the national team, persuaded her to stop lifting on the back course. Liu showed disagreement expression in her face, but finally she gave up insisting. "I still have the interest to lift, but my coach asked me to save strength for the world championships," said Liu, three world records holder in this division. "She had injuries in knees and back. It is not necessary to lift more," Ma told Xinhua. She intended to show her rivals, both domestic and abroad, how strong she was. "I could have lifted more weight today if my coach had allowed me," said Liu, who grew up in an apple orchard in Zhaoyuan City, east China's Shandong Province. Liu, representing host Shandong, beat dark horse Chen Ling of Jiangsu to win her third consecutive gold at the 11th Chinese National Games here on Monday. Though Chen took the lead in the snatch, Liu was so strong in the jerk, as she was the last one to lift her first jerk attempt among 13 strongwomen. She steadily hoisted 147kg to knock down the gold medal with a total of 267kg. The winning weight was not too heavy for Liu as she lifted a total of 286kg in Beijing Olympics, a new world record, and 19kg more than Liu's result here. Though declaring her monopoly in the 69kg division, Liu welcomed the new faces like Chen and the bronze medalist Kang Yue. "Chen performed well today, and the bronze medalist is excellent too. Stronger opponent in this division will do good to the development of our Chinese weightlifting," said she. Since winning her first Olympic gold in Athens, Liu has been plagued with a serious elbow injury in the 2006 Worlds in Santo Domingo, which forced her to stay away from the sport for almost one year. Liu returned in 2007 brimming with confidence, Liu overwhelmed the Russian Olympic debutante in the Beijing Olympics, breaking three world records of the women's 69kg division at 128kg in snatch, 158kg in jerk and 286kg in total. "I want to be the first woman to win three gold medals in a row in the Olympic history," said Liu before the National Games. "I felt excited when thinking of making history.It is also a kind of my responsibility, so I finally persuade myself to fight for the London Games."

Teenagers show potiential at Chinese National Games (58 kg, 63 kg)

Two teenagers caused media hype in the women's weightlifting competition as they both overcame veterans to win gold medals at the 11th Chinese National Games on Sunday. Guan Xinlei of Jiangsu, 19, hoisted a winning lift 147kg in her final attempt, seven kilos more than her fifth lift, to knock down defending champion Ouyang Xiaofang to win the 63kg division gold medal with a world-record breaking total result of 265kg. In an earlier match, Li Xueying, at the same age with Guan, beat two world champions Qiu Hongmei and Sun Caiyan to win the women's 58kg division, regarded as one of the young hopefuls for the LondonOlympics. "Guan seldom lifted 147kg in the training, so she is really amazing today. It is very rare that a lifter can produce her best result in an fierce competition," said Cao Xinmin, Guan's coach. Ouyang of Liaoning, world champion in 2006, produced the same result as Guan but had to settle with the silver medal due to the bodyweight disadvantage. The 19-year-old Guan's jerk and total results were five kilos and eight kilos more than the world records of jerk and total respectively. "Finally I became the focus and the most important lifter of theteam after Chen Yanqing retired. That's why I won today," Guan joked. Li Liying, winner in the 69kg division in the last Chinese National Games, pocketed bronze at 257kg. In the 63kg division competition, three lifters, including Ouyang, Guan and Li Liying of Hunan, cracked three world records in stunning 12 times. In women's 58kg, Li survived a tough fight and finished her debut with a total of 251kg, as same as the total world record made by Beijing Olympic champion Chen Yanqing. "I did not have stage fright at all when contesting with two veterans," said Li. Jerk world record holder Qiu Hongmei of Jiangxi, tipped as a favorite to win before the Games, failed the last two attempts and injured her left elbow ligament and had to bring home a silver medal at 246kg. The 35-year-old veteran Sun Caiyan of Liaoning, world champion in 2003, came back with a strong performance to take the bronze at 245kg, before she announced retirement at the press conference. "Today is my last competition. I still love weightlifting, but my physical condition did not allow me to continue," she said. Up till now, 13 of all the 21 women's weightlifting national records are higher than the world records of the same kind. Though bettering the women's weightlifting world records frequently happens in the National Games, the new results will not be counted as the world records because they are not accepted by the International Weightlifting Federation. Source:

China’s weightlifters outshone world records in 48 kg and 53 kg category at the National Games

Chinese women's world champions Li Ping and Wang Mingjuan towered above world records in the 53 and 48 kilogram weight classes respectively at China's National Games. The two outshone the records in Saturday's competition in the eastern city of Jinan, with Li shattering previous world records in the 53kg class by snatching 103kg, lifting 132kg in the clean and jerk and totalling 235kg, according to the Games website. She broke the previous world snatch record in the weightclass of 102kg, while eclipsing the clean and jerk record of 129kg and total lift record of 226kg. "I just focused on defending the title, not thinking of breaking the world records," Li told reporters. "I did really stable lifts in the snatch. That's why I won the gold today." While breaking the world records, Li, 21, from Hunan province, defended her national games title won four years ago in Nanjing city. As the International Weightlifting Federation only recognises records set in world, continental and Olympic competitions, Saturday's performances will not go down in the record books. Wang, 24, also broke the 48kg class records by lifting 99kg in the snatch and 121kg in the clean and jerk for a total of 220kg. World records are in the weight class include 98kg for the snatch, 120kg for the clean and jerk and 217kg for the total. Though bettering weightlifting world records frequently happens in the Chinese National Games, the new results will not be counted as they are not accepted by the International Weightlifting

China’s 11th National Games Opened

The 11th National Games, billed as China's mini-Olympics, opened amid a splendid ceremony in Jinan, east China's Shandong Province Friday evening, October 16, 2009 in Jinan., east China's Shandong Province Friday evening.Chinese President Hu Jintao officially opened the Games at the ceremony held in the newly built Olympic Sports Complex in this capital city of east China's Shandong province.With 55 of all 63 Chinese Beijing Olympic champions expected to compete, the quadrennial national meet is set to stage another sports gala for the country which just celebrated its 60th birthday.Among those present at the ceremony are President of International Olympic Committee (IOC) Jacques Rogge, who was re-elected at the 121st IOC Session held in Copenhagen just one week ago, and a dozen of IOC members.When addressing the full capacity of 60,000 at the ceremony, Liu Peng, director-general of State General Administration of Sports and President of the Organizing Committee of the 11th National Games, said a successful staging of the National Games will be a perfect gift dedicated to the country's 60th birthday."The National Games has contributed a lot to the development of Chinese sport in the past 50 years. We must build on what we have achieved since the Beijing Olympics, make our country much stronger in sport and promote the national fitness program as well," Liu added.He also wished athletes could promote sportsmanship in the 13-day long competitions.Taking part in the biggest-ever National Games are 10,991 athletes of 46 delegations from all provinces, municipalities, autonomous regions, Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions, the People's Liberation Army, the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps and various sports associations of the trades such as railways, coal mining, forestry, finance and banking and aviation.The athletes' parade was followed by an Olympic-style art performance, a brilliant combination of dazzling light, music and dance, fireworks, and cultural extravaganza.The ceremony reached the climax with an intricate cauldron lighting, which saw thousands of performers on the field line up and stretch to the foot of the cauldron with each holding a torch, meaning the cauldron was lit by all the people.Getting more of China's 1.3 billion people involved in sport was one of the legacy aims of the Beijing Olympics, where China topped the medal table on 51 golds last year.China's sports governing body has given the priority to the mass participation of sports after the Beijing Games and vowed to include more people in the national fitness program, with the latest effort making Aug. 8, the date when the Beijing Olympics was held, an annual National Fitness Day.The flame, which lit the cauldron, arrived in Jinan after a two-month nation-wide relay.The flame was ignited in a traditional sun-ray ceremony on Aug. 1 at the top of Mount Taishan, one of the world cultural and natural heritage sites in China.The mountain lies some 40km south of the host city Jinan and has been considered the holy mountain because it is to the east, the direction from which the sun rises.It is a continuation of a pilgrimage to Mount Taishan since ancient times, when emperors used to ascend the mountain to pray and say thanks to heaven and earth for peace and prosperity. High officials, noted scholars and commoners have followed suit.The Games, with the theme of "Harmonious China and People's Games", features 33 sports consisting of all 28 sports in summer Olympics, four winter sports and wushu as well.Before its official kick-off, finals of 104 events from winter sports and summer sports such as table tennis, gymnastics and diving have concluded.The National Games, which was inaugurated 50 years ago, has long been a fierce battlefield for those participants who will spare no efforts to take home both honor and pride. Usually held every four years, it is the country's top national-level sports event.The Games runs from October 16 to 28 and will be held in 17 cities for the overall benefits throughout Shandong

Weightlifting rookies to challenge Olympic champions in Chinese National Games

JINAN, East China, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- Though six of eight Beijing Olympic champions will show their power in the weightlifting competitions of the 11th Chinese National Games, rookies may not only challenge their domestic domination, but also their tickets of the London Olympics in 2012. Liu Chunhong of the host Shandong team, the women's 69kg class Olympic champion in 2004 and 2008, had decided to continue her career, aiming at her third Olympic gold medal in London. "Liu will try her best in the National Games, but the gold medalis not her only goal. She will focus more on the preparation of the London Olympics," Liu's coach Ma Wenhui told Xinhua. "Even if she won, She would not win the gold medal as easily as before in the National Games, because many rookies in the 69kg class are getting stronger," he added. "I think it is a good thing for Chinese weightlifting," said Ma, also the head coach in the national team. China dominated the weightlifting events in the Beijing Olympics in 2008 as 10 Chinese lifters won eight golds and one silver in all the nine categories they entered. All the four Chinese strongwomen fighting at the Games snatched golds. Besides Liu, other two strongwomen Cao Lei of Heilongjiang, 75kg class Olympic champion, and Chen Xiexia of Guangdong, 48kg class Olympic champion will also compete in the National Games. Chen Yanqing, winner in the 2004 and 2008 Olympics, retired after the Beijing Olympics. Other Olympic weightlifting champions Long Qingquan, Liao Hui and Lu Yong will show up in the later men's competition. Zhang Xiangxiang, Olympic champion in men's 62kg, had turned his interest in the acting field. "All the top eight lifters in every category in the National Games will be enrolled in the national team next month," said Ma Wenguang, president of the Chinese Weightlifting Association. "The rookies and the veterans will compete for the Olympic tickets. If the rookies' performance are better than the Olympic champions, we will be happy to see them replace the veterans," he added. The weightlifting competition in the Chinese National Games, running from October 17 to 26, attracted a total of 226 lifters across China, including 130 strongwomen in seven categories and 144 strongmen in eight categories. Chinese female lifters are so strong that 13 of all the 21 national records are higher than the world records of the same kind. Though bettering weightlifting world records frequently happens in the National Games, the new results will not be counted as the world records due to the lack of the authentication from the International Weightlifting Federation. by Liu Yang (www.chinaview.cn)