The China Post
Date: August 22, 2017
By: The China Post

Before the Taipei Universiade kicked off, Chinese Taipei weightlifting heavyweight

Photo courtesy of President Tsai Ing-wen’s Facebook page

Kuo Hsing-chun said repeatedly that she would “not only try to take gold at the Universiade, I will also break my own meet record.” Last night, she did just that, lifting 107 kg in the snatch and 142 kg in the clean and jerk for a total of 249 kg, giving her the women’s 58-kg gold. It was a transcendent moment, as she not only broke the Universiade record but, more importantly, broke the world record on home soil as she lifted the 142 kg with ease.

Despite fellow host team gold medalist hopeful Hsu Shu-ching having withdrawn before the games and with Rio Games champion Srisurat Sukanya from Thailand competing, the venue was swamped with supporters cheering Kuo on. Neither they nor Kuo left disappointed. At the moment after breaking the world record, Kuo shed tears of joy and excitedly hugged her coach Lin Geng-neng as the frenzied cheers from the crowd reverberated around her.

“I thought that competing on home soil would be very stressful, but I was much more relaxed than I imagined I would be,” Kuo said afterward. She had shown remarkable dominance at the start of the event, lifting weights heavier than those of her Thai and North Korean rivals. She kept ahead of them throughout, being successful in every one of her six attempts and never being deterred. That determination was the key to Kuo’s rewriting of the record set by China’s Qiu Hongmei — a record that had stood for a decade.    [FULL  STORY]