Park Hye-jung wins three women’s weightlifting titles at World Championships

Women’s weightlifting standout Park Hye-jung (20-Goyang City Hall) won a triple gold medal in the women’s heaviest weight class at the World Weightlifting Championships.

Park lifted 124 kilograms in the snatch, 165 kilograms in the jerk, and 289 kilograms in the total to win gold in all three categories at the Women’s 87kg+ category at the 2023 World Weightlifting Championships in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Saturday. Unlike the Olympics and Asian Games, the World Championships awards medals for the lift, snatch, and total. Park is the first Korean athlete to win three gold medals in the women’s heavyweight division at the World Championships.

Women’s weightlifting legend Jang Jang-ran, the current Vice Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, has yet to accomplish the feat. Jang was a four-time world champion: in 2005 in Doha, Qatar, 2006 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, 2007 in Chiang Mai, Thailand, and 2009 in Goyang, South Korea. However, he finished second in the lifts each time.

Initially, Tokyo 2020 gold medalist Li Wenyuan (CHN), who holds three world records (148 kg in the vault, 187 kg in the beam, and 335 kg in the total), was a strong favorite. However, Li 토토사이트 failed to lift 130 kilograms in the first and second lifts of the day. She later withdrew due to injury. Park Hye-jung clinched the triple crown and expressed her joy with a roar.

Park Hye-jung is known as “Jang Jang-ran Kids. After watching Jang Jang-ran win a gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and four world titles, Park came to Seonbu Middle School, which has a weightlifting club, as a freshman in middle school, saying, “I want to do weightlifting.” She broke the Korean middle school record (259 kilograms total) and junior record (290 kilograms) and was dubbed the “second Jang Jang-ran. Park said, “Many people have supported me since I was young. I was very grateful. At the same time, I felt a lot of pressure because my records didn’t go up as much as I expected,” she said, adding, “In my senior year of high school, I wandered and went through a slump.” Park will also compete at the Hangzhou Asian Games. She will once again compete for the title with favorite Lee Won-won.