Weightlifter misses Olympic medal

 Vietnamese hopeful Tran Le Quoc Toan failed to bring home a bronze medal in his 56kg event on July 30.

Toan, who was expected to raise Vietnam’s profile in London as his predecessors Hoang Anh Tuan and Tran Hieu Ngan did at the previous two Olympic Games, only lifted 284kg in total, 2kg less than Valentin Hristov from Azerbaijan.

Anh Tuan snatched a silver medal in weightlifting at the 2008 Beijing Olympics with a total weight of 290kg, while Hieu Ngan also took a silver medal in Taekwondo at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. 

In London, Toan’s hope grew after his powerful opponents, one from China and one from Kazakhstan, withdrew from the category.

However, with a total of 293 kg, Om Yun Chol from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea put more pressure on prospective candidates, including Toan.

The Vietnamese athlete executed 125kg after three attempts in the snatch, and 159kg in the clean and jerk portion, ranking fourth after all. 

The gold medal went to Om Yun Cho and the silver to Wu Jingbiao from China. 

Earlier, his female teammate Nguyen Thi Thuy could only lift 200kg in total to rank 8th in the 53kg event.

In the same event Chinshanlo Zulfiya from Kazakhstan set the new Olympic and world record of 226kg to bring home a gold medal.