Thursday, August 14, 2008

A real Olympic Hero ! Weightlifting.

I have been catching up on all the "Live" Olympic action via the non-stop "Live" telecast on our
various TV channels. The greatest show on Earth has seen 5 days of top competition in all sports...except Athletics.

If you want to look for the best and latest lessons on the meaning of true grit, fighting spirit, mental toughness, endurance, patience, humility and other positive human attributes....then watch the Olympics closely.
I cannot even begin to know where to start as I have witnessed so many fine examples of these values.
Take for example Liu Chunhong from China, competing in the 69 kg Weightlifting event for women ( photo here ).
Her performance in the 2 compulsory sets of the Snatch and the Clean and Jerk broke all kinds of Olympic and World Records. In her very 1st attempt in the Clean and Jerk, she lifted 149 Kg more than anyone else could lift. Then she added 9 kg for her next attempt and the weight was 158 kg.
She managed to lift this for a new World record. I actually saw the metal bar bending due to the heavy load! Her best for the Snatch was 128 Kg. Total weight lifted was 286 kg. This was 31 kg better than the 2nd place N Slivenko from Russia ( 255 kg ).! Unheard of really in top competitions like this!
The 3rd place went to N Davydora from the Ukraine.
Immediately after the medal presentation ceremony, while still on the podium and in full view of the world, she removed her Olympic GOLD medal and hung it on the neck of her 2 coaches.
That was one very, very thoughtful act on her part.
By doing so, she has publicly acknowledged that her incomparable victory was in no way due to just her own efforts.
She had her 2 wonderful coaches and others to thank!
That win and her action afterwards exemplifies my contention....there is much we can learn from by watching these events closely.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

If the iron can bend like that, it's a fair warning to all those men......

Unk Dicko said...

The bar did bend slightly due to the heavy load. I suspect the women also use a different bar from the men...slightly smaller circumference due to smaller hand grip of most women.