[Asian Games] ‘Weightlifting Rivals’ North Korea and China, Give and Receive Praise

“North Korea’s level 1, it’s amazing”… “National Day celebration, China has the upper hand”

North Korean and Chinese athletes, who shared early medals in the weightlifting category at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games,

exchanged favorable reviews of each other’s skills.

Asian Games

At a press conference after the men’s 61kg weightlifting competition at the Asian Games 스포츠토토

at the Xiaoshan Sports Center in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China on the afternoon of the 1st,

China’s Li Pabin (30), who won the gold medal, said,

“I was surprised last night that the North Korean team’s weightlifters were so strong.

“I felt it,” he said.

At the same time, he repeatedly praised the Joseon team, saying, “The Joseon team’s level has reached the world’s first class,” and “The Joseon team is amazing.”

He also said, “I made a mistake in the game today, but I will try to improve a lot in the future.”

In the weightlifting competition held the previous day,

North Korea’s Ri Seong-geum won gold medals in the women’s 49kg event and Kang Hyeon-kyung won gold medals in the women’s 55kg event, each setting a new world record.

A day later, praise came from the gold medalist from the ‘rival’ country as well.

North Korea’s Park Myung-jin

Chinese athletes won silver and bronze medals in those events, respectively.

With three events taking place in weightlifting up to the men’s 61kg class on this afternoon,

as many as eight of the nine podium positions were occupied by athletes from North Korea and China.

The remaining spot was occupied by a Thai athlete who won a bronze medal in the 49kg class.

Accordingly, North Korea’s Park Myung-jin (20),

who followed Lipavin and won the silver medal by setting a new world junior record, and Kim Chung-guk (24),

who won the bronze medal, began the press conference with a message congratulating China’s National Day.

When asked about her evaluation of the Chinese team, Park Myung-jin said highly,

“If you look at the current stage, Chinese weightlifting has the upper hand.”

However, Park Myung-jin, who failed in the final stage of the clean and jerk,

when he had a chance of winning the gold medal,

expressed his disappointment by hitting the floor of the stadium, did not hide his desire to win,

saying, “I will fight to win the gold medal as the basis of an athlete is gold.”

Park Myung-jin met with reporters in the mixed zone (joint coverage area) before the press conference and said, “I didn’t win the gold medal in this game.

That’s really unfortunate,” and added, “Even though I lost this game,

I won’t lose in future games.”

He expressed his determination.