The women weightlifters from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea have been thrust into the limelight at international tournaments.
The official women’s event sponsored by the International Weightlifting Federation is divided into 10 categories based on body weight, each of which has respective world records in snatch, jerk and total.
In other words, there are to be 30 world records put together, but some categories like the 87kg one have seen no world-record holders as no one has ever broken the records set by the IWF.
As of the 2024 Asian Weightlifting Championships, the Korean women retained 12 world records, but the number has grown to 13 with Won Hyon Sim renewing the 45kg category jerk record at the 2024 IWF World Cup.
At present, the DPRK tops the list of the women’s weightlifting world records.
To tell the world records retained by Korean women, Rim Jong Sim’s records remain unbeaten. As a twice Olympic gold medalist, Rim in the 76kg category registered 124kg in snatch and 278kg in total in 2019.
Ri Song Gum holds two world records in the 49kg category with 125kg in jerk and 221kg in total. She broke the world records in succession in jerk, her forte, and total at the 19th Asian Games and the Asian Weightlifting Championships in 2024. She renewed her record in total at the 2024 IWF World Cup, winning the best player prize at the event.
Won Hyon Sim has broken the IWF records in the 45kg category to hold three world records. At the 2024 Asian Weightlifting Championships she established world records in snatch and total, and updated her records at the 2024 IWF World Cup by snatching 87kg and jerking 109kg, a weight that beat the IWF record, with a total of 196kg.
Kang Hyon Gyong’s records in the 55kg category are respectively 104kg in snatch, 131kg in jerk and 234kg in total. She set world records in the three events at the 19th Asian Games and bettered the previous records in snatch at the 2024 Asian Weightlifting Championships and in jerk and total at the 2024 IWF World Cup.
Kim Il Gyong keeps her 59kg category snatch record at 111kg, while Ri Suk and Song Kuk Hyang hold jerk records at 146kg and 154kg in the 64kg and 71kg categories respectively.
Team DPRK did not attend any international tournaments for four years since COVID-19 pandemic broke out in December 2019. Over the years, however, they trained harder and built up their capacities to provide a guarantee for a leap forward.
The 19th Asian Games in 2023 served as a good occasion for Team DPRK to demonstrate its rapid development and winning edge on the Asian and world front.
In less than seven months after the 19th Asian Games, Team DPRK bagged over 120 medals including 85 golds in international competitions and make remarkable achievements in establishing world records.
Whereas they kept only two before the 19th Asian Games, Korean women weightlifters are now holding 13 world records, taking the lead in the world’s weightlifting development.
Such eye-opening achievements were admired by foreign media, experts and spectators alike.
Chinese media described the performance of the “mysterious team" from the DPRK at the 19th Asian Games as “unexpected,” “overpowering” and “dramatic.” Staff of the IWF and the Asian Weightlifting Federation, as well as experienced experts, said that they hardly expected Team DPRK would be strong as such.
Jo Kang Byol
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