After the test in the 10th National Games, Chinese lifters have put their eyes at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

At the Athens Games last year, Chinese lifters collected five gold medals, two from men and three from women divisions. Ma Wenguang, president of Chinese Weightlifting Association (CWA), asserted that a batch of new faces have emerged onto the arena at the ongoing National Games, especially in men's competition.

"I am so glad to see those potential young guys here. They are the hope in Beijing Olympics," Ma told Xinhua.

Qiu Le, 22-year-old, made a strong hit at the men's 62kg category as he showed his dominance when he hoisted 145kg in the snatch and jerked up 177.5kg for a winning total of 322.5kg to catch his first gold medal in National Games.

His total result was just 2.5kg less than the Olympic champion Shi Zhiyong's 325kg in Athens.

Another novice Lu Yong, 19, also took the limelight in 85kg class as he won the silver at 377.5kg, 2.5kg shorter of the champion 28-year-old Yuan Aijun, who finished fourth in Athens at 372.5kg.

"We still have advantage in lighter divisions, such as 56kg and 62kg. When I saw Lu Yong, I think maybe we can win the Olympic gold in 2008 in 85kg division," weightlifting expert and consultant to CWA Yi Chenghong told Xinhua.

Ma Wenguang said, "there are at least five talents in every categories. I am quite optimistic with men's performance in Beijing Games."

"I think Chinese strongmen will take at least two gold medals in Beijing, and hopefully, we can have more," Ma added.

Dark horse Yu Tingxiao of Sichuan took the title of men's 56kg division at a winning total of 282.5kg as he beat Olympic silver medalist Wu Meijin by 5kg.

Olympic champion Shi Zhiyong of Fujian won the men's weightlifting 69kg silver after he switched from 62kg to 69kg last November. He snatched 157.5kg and jerked up 185kg to win the silver at 342.5kg.

The 25-year-old Shi was satisfied with his performance and vowed to dominate the 69kg class in the Beijing Olympics.

"I have practiced in 69kg class for 11 months, which is too short to display a perfect result. I did not expect a medal before the match, because I know I can not reach my goal in one day," Shi told reporters.

Nevertheless, the gap between Chinese strongmen and others in the world in heavier division is widening.

In men's 105kg competition, the 31-year-old Cui Wenhua won his fourth consecutive gold medal. However, the champion's total result of 392.5kg was 32.5kg short of Olympic champion Dmitry Berestov's in Athens.

Chinese strongwomen sustained the waves to shatter the world records in the women's competition, which run from October 10 to 13.

Whereas, Ma kept cautious about women's prospect in Beijing Games. "Chinese strongwomen can not dominate every category and we must carefully observe the performance of ourselves and our opponents," he said.

"Chinese strongwomen still take advantages in the 48kg, 53kg, 58kg and 69kg divisions, but we did not have talents in the 75kg and over-75kg."

Tang Gonghong, who clinched the gold in over-75kg class at the Athens Games, failed all the three attempts in the snatch at the National Games. She has decided to retire.

"The clean sweep in Sydney might not happen in Beijing, but we still aim at winning three golds in women's competition in Beijing Games," Ma said.

The weightlifting competition in the National Games, running from October 10 to 20, attracted a total of 226 lifters across China.

Source: Xinhua