WEIGHTLIFTING Taylan's record lift upsets Zhuo for gold

NIKAIA, Greece -- Turkey's Nurcan Taylan pulled off a huge surprise in the opening event of Olympic weightlifting Saturday, turning a world-record lift into an upset of heavily favored Li Zhuo of China in the 1051/2-pound (48kg) weight class.
The loss was a stunning start for China's women's weightlifting powerhouse, whose assistant coach had predicted a sweep of all four events it could enter. China was 4-for-4 in the sport's debut in Sydney.
Defending gold medalist Tara Cunningham of the United States wasn't a factor, dropping the bar on her left leg on her second lift en route to finishing 11th of 14. Thailand's Aree Wiratthaworn won the bronze.
Taylan, who moved down from the 117-pound class following the European championships in April, broke Li's 2003 world snatch record of 2051/2 pounds by slightly less than nine pounds -- or almost one-tenth her own weight.
Taylan followed that with a lift of 248 pounds in the clean and jerk, in which the bar is first brought to shoulder height before being lifted over the head. That forced Li, who expected to be well ahead by then, to twice attempt record lifts of 2641/2 pounds -- or nine pounds over her own clean and jerk record set last year.
She failed both times, and the gold went to Taylan, who was third behind China's Wang Mingjuan and Wiratthaworn in the world championships in November.
Taylan surprised Li from the start, twice changing her opening weight in the snatch from 187 pounds to 1921/2 before finally settling on 198, or Li's opening weight.
Both made their lifts but while Li went only to 2031/2 pounds on her second attempt, Taylan went to 209 and made it. When Li matched that, Taylan put up a world-record 2141/2 pounds, letting loose with a scream of delight -- her faced locked in determination -- even before dropping the bar.
Associated Press