Sa pips Li for weightlifting gold

Sa Jae-hyouk claimed South Korea's first weightlifting gold in Beijing by winning the men's 77kg class.

He lifted a total of 366kg, the same as China's Li Hongli - but Sa edged the eventual silver medallist to the title because of his lower body weight.

Sa was 3kg behind Li after lifting 163kg in the snatch, but the Korean amazed the home crowd with a 203kg lift in his second clean and jerk.

Armenia's Gevorg Davtyan won bronze with a combined total of 360kg.

Home favourite Li's narrow defeat was a first for China, who have dominated the weightlifting competition, winning gold in all six categories previously completed.

606: DEBATE
Give us your thoughts on the weightlifting in Beijing
Li comfortably led the way after the snatch, but failed with his initial 198kg attempt in the clean and jerk before eventually succeeding with his last try despite a slight wobble.

A confident Sa added 8kg in a bid to break the world record in his final clean and jerk, but gave up halfway through the lift.

Defending Olympic champion Taner Sagir of Turkey was eliminated after failing in his three snatch attempts at 165kg.

RELATED INTERNET LINKS:
Beijing 2008 - weightlifting
British Weightlifting Association
International Weightlifting Federation
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites