August 16, 2008	Saturday	Sha'aban 13, 1429

BEIJING, Aug 15: Grieving Cao Lei won the women's 75kg title on Friday, giving China their seventh weightlifting gold medal after her mother died in the runup to the Beijing Olympics.

The two-time world champion hoisted 128kg in the snatch and 154kg in the clean and jerk for a total lift of 282kg, all three being new Olympic records.

For her finale the 24-year-old went for the total lift world record but her attempt at 159kg in the clean and jerk — which would have given her a total of 287kg — failed.

After that she broke down and wept.

“This medal is dedicated to my motherland and to the people, but also to my dear mother who had passed away recently,” Cao said, holding the medal before her as she broke down again at a news conference after the awarding ceremony.

China's drive to the top of the sports world demands a lot from its young athletes who are scouted early.

Chen Yanqing, one of the six other gold medal-winning lifters in the China team here, said she had spent a total of just six days at home with her parents since the team entered training camp to prepare for these Games.

Cao said she had exceeded the world record total for her weight class in training, but as she gunned for it on her last lift, “I was distracted, I couldn't focus,” she said.

“I thought of my mum,” she said. “I think there was some kind of psychological change [in me], and that's why I failed to lift it.”

Alla Vazhenina of Kazakhstan won the silver medal with a 266kg total while Russia's Nadezda Evstyukhina got the bronze medal with a total effort of 264kg.

The Chinese men and women have won all but one of eight weightlifting gold medals that they have contested, setting three new world records along the way.

Meanwhile, Doping tests on Olympic weightlifters have failed to turn up any positive results and China’s dominance could well be due to talent and preparation, the International Weightlifting Federation chief said on Friday.

Tamas Ajan also defended Liu Chunhong’s world-breaking effort at the women’s 69kg contest on Wednesday, the most dominant performance by the host country.

Lifters were tested to determine if they took performance-enhancing substances, but “we don’t have positive cases yet. We are very proud of this,” the IWF boss told a news conference.

Ajan said the federation on its own has done its utmost to clean up the sport.—AFP