China retains commanding lead in Asian Games
China retains commanding lead in Asian Games
HIROSHIMA, Japan (Reuter): After only two days China has
already swept to a commanding lead in the Asian Games thanks to
record-breaking performances by its weightlifters and swimmers.
China's women weightlifters added six more world records
yesterday to the eight they set on Monday, while in the swimming
pool China won all five gold medals to go with three they
collected in yesterday's first day of serious competition.
The day ended with China on 20 gold medals with Japan falling
behind on eight and Iran moving into third place with a single
gold in karate.
The president of the International Weightlifting Federation
moved swiftly to head off any accusations that drugs might be
involved telling Reuters the Chinese athletes received a clean
bill of health in tests two months ago and would be tested again
at the end of this month.
The pocket Venus athletes won all six weightlifting gold
medals, lifting nearly twice their own weight and leaving their
opponents trailing by more than 10 kg (25 pounds).
Chinese weightlifting coach Tao Jiang revealed that, like
athletics counterpart Ma Junren and swimming coach Chen Yunpeng
-- he also has a secret herbal formula to bolster the hard work
regime he imposes.
All the world record breakers so far are lifters under 20
years of old and some of them have been training since they were
12 years old.
Speaking at the Games only hours after China's lifters set
their last world record, IWF president Gottfried Schodl admitted
he was worried about drugs in the sport.
"I am really worried about drugs," he said.
Schodl said much of the suspicion against China was due to
envy and doubted if Beijing could have developed anything which
was not known to the rest of the world.
Schodl said among reasons why the Chinese have achieved
spectacular success in the sport was that they had naturally
well-developed calves and thighs which bear the brunt of the lift
in both the snatch and the clean and jerk.
In swimming China took all five golds, two silvers and a
bronze in a systematic demolition of the disheartened opposition.
Only Japan, with a haul of two silvers and three bronzes, could
raise a smile at the end of the day, while Thailand was ecstatic
with a shock silver and South Korea was consoled with a lone
bronze.
The Chinese broke Asian Games records in every race on the
agenda and swimmer after swimmer made it clear that the
juggernaut would not stop before the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
Karate
The third full day competition also saw Iran and Syria joined
the medal winning club. Rafaat Salti Krad broke the Japanese
stranglehold in karate when he won a closely contested 65kg final
against Arash Javanshir of Iran. Syria now have four gold medals
in 40 years of Asian Games.
Maziar Farid Khomami earned a consolation gold for Iran by
beating Adel al-Mejadi of Kuwait 4-3 in the 70kg final.
Natalia Chikina won Kazakhstan's first Asian Games medal, a
bronze, in the 10m platform.
Also yesterday, China's flamboyant coach Ma Junren arrived at
the Asian Games, setting off a media frenzy around the man behind
world-record performances by China's women middle distance
runners.
Accompanied by cases of his secret elixir of turtle blood and
other mystery ingredients, the leader of "Ma's Army" behaved in a
way befitting a conquering hero.
He graciously accepted bouquets of flowers thrust into his
hands through a scrimmage of journalists at Hiroshima airport but
still found time to courteously escort his women runners to their
seats in a bus.