Steamed Rice

Score another gold for Thailand’s wonder athletes of the 2004 games! Pawina Thongsuk took another gold in women’s weightlifting. The Kingdom will be taking home its largest haul of medals ever with finals in the boxing events, where Thailand is strong, still yet to come. It looks like a banner year for Thai Olympians with the nation now flush with success and Olympic glory. ~V

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Athens - Pawina Thongsuk, from Thailand the ‘Land of Smiles’, beamed with joy when she ensured her country of their best Olympic medal haul ever by winning women’s weightlifting gold on Friday.

She edged out Natalia Zabolotnaia of Russia on lower body weight in the 75kg category, the Thai being more than four kilogrammes lighter.

The Russian went away with two new world records but only a silver medal after what looked like a bizarre misjudgement.

The contrast between the two could not have been starker on the podium, Pawina smiling and waving to a jubilant, flag-waving cheer squad and Zabolotnaia solemn and stony-faced.

Thailand had already won a gold, through Udomporn Polsak, and two bronzes in women’s weightlifting and Pawina’s victory took their total past the previous record of one gold and two bronzes the country established over all sports at the 2000 Sydney Games.

“I was under pressure as the other three girls in the team had won medals,” said Pawina, a former world champion at 69kg. “I was not scared of Liu Chunhong (the Chinese who dominates the 69kg category) - I just moved up to 75kg as I thought I had a chance of winning the gold medal.”

The Thai women lifters visited temples and monks in predominantly Buddhist Thailand to pray for good luck before coming to Athens and were energised by a diet of bird’s nest soup and chocolate.

The result hinged on a decision by Zabolotnaia to leap from 147.5kg to 152.5kg for her final lift in the clean and jerk when 150kg would have put Pawina under pressure.

Pawina had already lifted 150kg and when the Russian girl missed at 152.5kg the gold belonged to the Thai.

“I had an objective and I am disappointed I did not achieve it,” said the 19-year-old Zabolotnaia, the 2003 European champion. “The result was not what I wanted.”

In a dramatic snatch section, the world record was broken three times by three different lifters.

When the dust settled, Zabolotnaia was the new world record holder with a lift of 125kg.

Her tremendous effort broke the old record of 122.5kg set by Pawina only a few minutes earlier. Pawina’s lift had bettered that of 120.5kg recorded by Popova at the start of the record-setting burst.

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