Sopita Tanasan made Thailand proud when she won the first gold medal for the country this year in the weightlifting competition at the Rio Olympic Games on Saturday.
The 21-year-old dominated the women’s 48kg category, lifting 92kg in the snatch and 108kg in the clean and jerk for a total of 200kg to finish first in weightlifting’s lightest category.
Sopita is the fourth women’s weightlifter from Thailand to win an Olympic gold medal.
Sopita, a regular lifter in the 53kg class, took full advantage of the withdrawal of hot Chinese women’s weightlifting favorite Hou Zhihui, who was injured and had to drop out.
The 5’1 Thai hoisted 8kg more than silver medalist Sri Wahyuni Agustiani of Indonesia, while evergreen Japanese lifter Hiromi Miyake took bronze with a total of 188kg.
Sopita — who hails from a family of boxers — was in control throughout the event at the 6,000-capacity Riocentro Pavilion 2, and went into the clean and jerk leading by seven kgs.
Her only stumble came when she failed to lift 110kg in her final attempt of the night. That left Agustiani needing to haul 115kg to take first place. The Indonesian had two opportunities but never came close.
“I was surprised that she was going for it but I was still very confident I was going to win,” Sopita told AFP.
Since the game’s opening ceremony on Saturday, Thailand has won a gold and bronze medal. Male weightlifter Sinphet Kruaithong lifted 289kg and snatched Thailand its second medal at the 2016 Olympics, according to The Nation.
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