Young Chinese lifers face challenge in London Olympics

BEIJING - Though showing great power at the domestic Olympic qualifier, young Chinese weightlifters still need more courage and intelligence rather than raw strength at the London Olympic Games if they want to repeat their gold glory.

"We'll meet more challenge in London than four years ago, because our team is built with young and inexperienced lifters and our opponents have become stronger during last four years," said Chen Wenbin, head coach of the men's team.

Having taken all the 10 Olympic tickets on offer, the Chinese team is very cautious to decide the Olympic lineup and they will not release the list of six men and four women until the Chinese Olympic delegation is unveiled on Tuesday.

"It's still a hard decision (to choose the lifters), but the situation is different from last Olympics. Our team is young, and they must show their courage while competing against the aggressive rivals," said Ma Wenguang, president of the Chinese Weightlifting Association (CWA).

Chinese lifters collected eight gold medals at the Beijing Olympics as the men's and the women's team each took four.

The 26-year-old Olympic winner Lu Yong of the men's 85kg category is the only defending champion in the Chinese squad and the other nine lifters will make their Olympic debut in London. Beijing Olympic champions like Liu Chunhong, Cao Lei and Zhang Xiangxiang, all missed April's qualifier because of injuries.

"The knee injuries bothered me in March but I never gave up. I reached my personal best last week and I am very confident to defend the title in London," said Lu Yong.

"My rivals are very competitive in this category. I would put myself in a position as a challenger, not a defending champion, during the training. This thought gives me some relief."

In the 85kg category, world champion Kianoush Rostami of Iran, Frenchman Benjamin Didier Hennequin and Beijing Olympic silver medalist Andrei Rybakov of Belarus all have the chance to win the gold.

Talking about rookies in the possible Olympic squad, Tian Yuan, Ji Jing and Lu Haojie all took the spotlight several months ago when they bettered world records in the women's 48kg, 53kg and the men's 77kg categories respectively at the domestic Olympic qualifier.

However, the 53kg division might be out of reach by the Chinese team because double world champion Zulfiya Chinshanlo of Kazakhstan is a hot gold medal contender.

China still dominate the lower weight categories in the recent world championships, such as the men's 48kg and 62kg classes and the women's 48kg and 58kg categories. Russia has an impressive lineup and should challenge the Chinese in the heavy divisions including the women's 69kg and over 75kg categories.

Russian Oxana Silivenko taught Chinese young lifter Xiang Yanmei a lesson in the Pairs Worlds last year when Silivenko beat her by two kilograms in the women's 69kg division.

"I became more mature and patient from last year and I am expecting to beat her in London," said the 20-year-old Xiang.

The superheavy weight divisions always draw most attention in the Olympics. Chinese Zhou Lulu will join the competition with defending champion Jang Mi-ran of South Korea and Tatiana Kashirina of Russia for the title of "the strongest woman in the world".

The 24-year-old Zhou consolidated her reputation last year in the worlds by setting a world record of 328kg. Kashirina equaled that total this year at the European Championships.

"To win eight gold medals again is almost a mission impossible. What we can do is to perform to our best and to return from London without regrets," said Ma, the CWA chief.

"We do have advantage in the light categories, but there are not enough top lifters in each categories. If we have two or three in every divisions, I will be more satisfied."