Safaa Aljumaili stole the weightlifting show Friday, ripping off his shirt and screaming in wild celebration after a dramatic last-gasp lift secured Iraq's first gold of the Asian Games.
It was Iraq's first medal of any colour at the 18th Asiad and was greeted with jubilant scenes at the Jakarta International Expo arena. As Aljumaili roared in delight he was joined by an Iraqi team official who kissed the platform several times in thanks.
Aljumaili had already failed with the 202kg he needed for gold but somehow managed to lock out his arms on the final lift of the 85kg competition to pip South Korea's brave Jang Yeon-hak by just 1kg. Jang was left with silver after collapsing on his final 197kg attempt and
being stretchered away wearing an oxygen mask. North Korea's Jon Myong Song took the bronze, after watching his team-mates sweep to a national-record fifth weightlifting gold in the women's 63kg,
along with a first ever Asian Games women's one-two. Little-known Kim Hyo Sim pulled off a shock win, trouncing her namesake compatriot and Rio Olympic silver medallist Choe Hyo Sim by the huge margin of 12kg.
Wamalun Rattanawan was delighted to take bronze on 225kg, the fifth medal for the consistent Thailand weightlifting team (one silver, four bronze).
JAPAN SWIM QUEEN IKEE WINS RECORD SIXTH GOLD
Japan's golden girl Rikako Ikee stormed to a record sixth Asian Games swimming title on Friday, marking a handful of other firsts for good measure.
Competing for elbow room on the final evening, China's colossus Sun Yang crushed the men's 1,500m to finish with a fab four individual freestyle titles in Jakarta.
But Ikee stole the show by edging the 50m freestyle sprint by a fingertip from China's Liu Xiang, clocking 24.53 seconds to become the first woman in any sport to scoop six gold medals at a single Games.
The 18-year-old allowed herself a rare display of emotion, raising a fist as she soaked up the applause of her besotted Japanese fans before shedding a few tears as the enormity of her achievement sank in. Ikee, who is poised to be the face of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in her home city, finished with eight medals in total -- also a joint record.
North Korea shooter So Gin Man pocketed seven gold medals and eight overall in 1982.
Japan's Yasuhiro Koseki completed an Asian Games breaststroke treble in the 50m final and perhaps ushered title-holder Dmitriy Balandin into retirement.. Koseki clocked 27.07 with Kazakhstan's Balandin, an Olympic gold medallist in Rio two years ago, taking bronze in 27.46 behind China's Yan Zibei (27.25).
China's 16-year-old sensation Wang Jianjiahe smashed the 400m free final, winning in a Games-best 4:03.18 to secure a hat-trick of individual titles. South Korean Kim Seo-yeong upset Japan's Yui Ohashi to capture gold in the women's 200m individual medley in 2:08.34.
TURKMEN DOPING CASE PUTS WRESTLING UNDER PRESSURE
A wrestler from Turkmenistan became the first doping case at the Asian Games and has been disqualified, the Olympic Council of Asia said Friday, days after it threatened to expel the worst-offending sports from future tournaments.
Rustem Nazarov tested positive for the banned substance furosemide, a masking agent, in a pre-tournament urine test last week, the OCA said. Nazarov “has been disqualified from the 18th Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games 2018... and his results during the competition held on the 19th August annulled”, said a statement.
The athlete, 24, had competed in the men's 57kg freestyle event and was defeated in his first match. His compatriot Shyhazberdi Ovelekov won bronze in the men's Greco-Roman 87kg category on Wednesday. - AFP
No comments:
Post a Comment