North Korea’s women’s weightlifters have won gold medals in all five weight categories at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou.

It reaffirmed the power of the “Asian weightlifting powerhouse” in its first international competition in about four years since the 2019 World Championships in Pattaya.

North Korea’s Song Kuk-hyang won gold in the women’s 76kg competition at the Xiaoshan Sports Center in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, on Friday evening, lifting 117kg in the snatch and 150kg in the jerk for a total of 267kg.

It was the fifth gold medal for North Korean women weightlifters at the Games.

Her teammate, Chung Chun Hee, won the silver medal by one kilogram, lifting 117 kilograms in the lift, 149 kilograms in the snatch, and 266 kilograms in the total.

North Korean women’s weightlifting’s “gold medal march” began with the start of the event on March 30.

North Korea’s Ri Sung-gyum won gold in the 49kg category, setting a new world record.

Kang Hyon-kyong won gold in the 55-kilogram event on the same day, also in a world record.

North Korean women’s weightlifting didn’t stop there.

Kim Il Kyong set a world record in the 59 kg category on the previous two days, while Lim Eun Shim, the younger sister of “North Korean Weightlifting Hero” Lim Jung Shim, also took the top spot on the podium in the 64 kg category.

With Song Kuk-hyang’s gold medal, North Korea has now swept all five women’s weightlifting categories at the Asian Games.

In addition, North Korean female historians have won two silver medals. Their arch-rivals, the Chinese women’s weightlifters, have only managed three silver and one bronze medal.

North Korea will not compete in the women’s weightlifting “87 kg” and “87 kg and above” events on June 6 and 7, respectively. North Korea has won gold in every women’s weightlifting event it has competed in at the Asian Games.

North Korean men’s weightlifters have won one gold, three silver and two bronze medals so far. 파워볼게임