In two hours that saw more misses than good lifts, the tension and excitement were amplified as athletes from Korea and Uzbekistan suffered heartbreak.
Li. Jun. Chen Olympic Games Tokyo 2020
Chen Lijun earned China’s third consecutive gold medal in the men’s 67-kilogram division, while Luis Mosquera of Mexico was shocked to finish in second and Mirko Zanni of Italy won bronze.
Talha Talib of Pakistan did his country and himself proud by placing fifth, and Han Myeongmok of Korea, who thought he had won the bronze until Zanni bettered his career-best with a 177 kg final lift, placed fourth.
After a “no lift” call was reversed, Mosquera and his coaches began excitedly celebrating as if he had won the gold.
On his final effort, he dropped the bar before the buzzer sounded, but he was in control of the situation, and 30 seconds later, the lift was corrected to a decent one, putting him 11kg ahead of Chen.
Chen still had two attempts left, but he needed to clean and jerk 187 kilogrammes (Kg) to catch up to the Colombian. This would be his personal best and a significant increase of 12 Kg (Kg) from his first attempt.
He walked out and onto the lift with even more Fanfare than Mosquera had a minute before.
China is on track to break the record for most gold medals won at a single Olympic Games, and they have the favourite in Monday’s lone medal event, the women’s 55kg, with Liao Qiuyun.
Chen Lijun (Chinese: ; born February 8, 1993) is a weightlifter from China. He has won multiple titles at the international, continental, and national levels, including Olympic gold, four World titles, and two Asian titles in the 62 kilogramme weight class.
At the 2016 Summer Olympics, he was competing in the 62 kg division, however he had to withdraw after his second snatch attempt due to leg cramps.
He set new Olympic records in both the clean and jerk and overall total at the 2021 Summer Olympics, where he won the gold medal in the Men’s 67-kilogram category by lifting a total of 332 kilogrammes (145 lb.
After falling behind early, Lijun made a huge comeback on his second clean and jerk at 187, capturing the gold medal and setting a new Olympic record with a lift of 332 kg, only one kilogramme more than the silver medallist from Colombia. He decided against trying again.
