China's 'Bar Belles' pumped for golden harvest
(China Daily)
Updated: 2004-08-06 06:11

Winning an Olympic medal is the easy part for China's female weightlifters.

Making the team is the tough task.

China holds most of the records in women's weightlifting, and competition is fierce. Being on the plane to Athens almost certainly means a podium finish.

In Sydney four years ago, China won four of the seven gold medals up for grabs in the women's event.

And with China taking home 19 gold at the Weightlifting World Championships last November, no-one is betting against a clean sweep in Greece.

But becoming a part of China's famed 'Bar Belles' team isn't easy. Due to athlete restrictions imposed by the International Olympic Committee, no more than four lifters can enter from any country.

China delayed the announcement of its squad for a week because competition has been so intense with a busload of talented young stars vying for a seat.

In the end, Li Zhuo (48kg), Chen Yanqing (58kg), Liu Chunhong (69kg) and Tang Gonghong (over-75kg) made the grade.

Wang Mingjuan (48kg), a superstar in China, was not on the official team lists.

"We've witnessed improvements these years. I'd attribute them to the hard and science-oriented training," said China Weightlifting Association president Ma Wenguang.

Spearheading China's "Dream Team" is 19-year-old Liu Chunhong, who's shown her class by lifting three 69 kg gold medals and beating five records at the world championships in Vancouver last year.

Since bursting onto the scene in the last couple of years, the powerful Liu has smashed more than a dozen world marks in both the snatch and clean and jerk. And she's still a teenager.

"We told them not to worry about the Games or their rivals. They ought to attempt to lift a bar beyond their own limit," said head coach Li Shunzhu.

While China's men's team has not had the same success, Zhan Xugang will be chasing his third consecutive Olympic gold in the 77kg class.

"Hopefully we can be lucky enough to get four (golds). Chinese men are resolute to secure at least one gold and strive for two," said Ma.

But the team will be under a drug cloud in Athens after Shang Shichun, a 75 kg gold medallist at last year's world championship, was booted off the roster for failing a dope test in Vancouver.

Shang, who set three world records at the championships, was banned for two years by the CWA which vocally lambasted her for bringing the team into disrepute.

"China's weightlifters should show their real best at the Athens Olympics and be completely clean when they participate," warned Ma.

Shang's coach Jiang Xuehui was banned from the sport for a year.

While weightlifting may be a marginal sport in many countries and regions, it's a hot ticket in China, with hundreds of weightlifting schools and around 1,000 trained coaches.

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