[Asian Games] Weightlifting Women's 59kg Class Kim Il-gyeong Gold Medal... North Korea Already 6 World Records

3 Titles Won Out of 5 Weight Classes Competed So Far... Total of 6 World Records

North Korean weightlifting representative Kim Il-gyeong, who made her international debut at this Asian Games, set a world record and won the gold medal. With this, North Korea set a total of six world records in total, snatch, and clean and jerk at this competition.

Kim Il-gyeong (20) of North Korea won the women's 59kg A group weightlifting event at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games held on the 2nd at the Xiaoshan Sports Center in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China, lifting 111kg in the snatch, 135kg in the clean and jerk, and a total of 246kg.

In the snatch, she set a world record by surpassing 110kg by 1kg, which was set by Guo Xingjun (30, Taiwan) at the 2021 Tashkent World Championships, and in the clean and jerk and total, she set world junior records (previous clean and jerk 133kg, total 236kg).

Kim Il-gyeong of North Korea is lifting a barbell in the women's 59kg weightlifting event at the Hangzhou Asian Games held on the 2nd at the Xiaoshan Sports Center in Hangzhou, China.
[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

Kim Il-gyeong achieved a 'clean sheet' by successfully completing all three attempts in both the snatch and clean and jerk, defeating Ruspan (22), who won the 2023 Riyadh World Championships held last month, to claim the gold medal. Ruspan's total record that day was 240kg (snatch 107kg, clean and jerk 133kg).

Guo Xingjun, who holds the world record total of 247kg in this weight class and was the gold medalist in the 58kg category at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games, finished third with a total of 227kg (snatch 101kg, clean and jerk 126kg).

North Korean weightlifting, returning to the international stage for the first time in four years since the 2019 World Championships, is pressuring China, the host country and self-proclaimed 'weightlifting powerhouse,' by winning three out of five weight classes contested so far at the Hangzhou Asian Games.

North Korea won all three women's weight classes (49kg, 55kg, and 59kg), while China produced champions in two men's weight classes (61kg and 67kg).