Olympic Champions at the Junior Worlds
Korea?s second-largest city, Busan was the host of the 11th Women?s and 31st Men?s Junior World Championships in May 2005.Since the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games, this was the first world-wide rendezvous in the sport of weightlifting held in Korea. The standard of the organisation was worthy of the best Korean traditions and matching the top level of Asian weightlifting.The juniors? meet was at the same time a premiere: the first major event held under the new 1-kilo rule. Already the first bodyweight category?s competition proved the International Weightlifting Federation?s decision right. The new progression of the barbell?s weight opened new dimensions in the tactical game and decided, in more than one case, the ranking between the contestants. The Championships produced the first world records under the new rules. In the women?s field, Chinese Liu Chunhong (75 kg) set up a new senior and junior world record total with 273 kg. Her 151kg in clean and jerk was also registered as a junior world record. Among the men, Ilya Ilin from Kazakhstan lifted the first new junior world records: 206 kg in jerk, 374 kg in total. Liu CHUNHONG, CHN set the first women's world records - both Junior and Senior - under the new 1-kilo rule In previous years, many of the Junior World Championship participants later turned into Olympic Champions. It happened, however, for the first time, that two weightlifters who already boasted Olympic gold medals came to participate in the Junior Worlds. Two winners from Athens, Liu Chunhong (CHN) and Taner Sagir (TUR) highlighted the Busan event and performed at an Olympic level. Liu Chunhong scored an overwhelming victory, while the Turkish Olympic Champion ? with no great effort ? won in a close fight, yet proving his supremacy. Taner SAGIR, TUR catered for high quality in the 77kg The most surprising winners were:? Shoko Sumida in the 48 kg women ? with her, Japan won its first junior world champion title;? First ever women?s medal for Albania by Fetie Kasaj ? in 53 kg, a silver medal;? and for Kazakhstan ? Irina Vlassova ? 69 kg, 3 bronze medals, and Alexandra Aborneva - +75 kg, 1 bronze medal. The team classification was also very interesting: Men ? CHN, KOR, RUS; Women ? RUS, KOR and JPN ? with China ranked only fourth.Forty per cent of the participating athletes were submitted to anti-doping controls? some more than once during the
