(BEIJING, August 12) -- Pak Hyon-suk of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea earned a standing ovation after winning the Women's Weightlifting 63 kilogram final on August 12. This is the first gold medal won by the DPRK in Beijing.

　　Irina Nekrassova of Kazakhstan set the tone of the final by lifting 105kg in the Snatch with her first attempt. Before that, Pak Hyon-suk of Democratic People's Republic of Korea lifted 106kg after three attempts, followed by 104kg from Lu Ying-Chi of Chinese Taipei. Nekrassova then went on lifting 110kg with her rest attempts, establishing a four kilogram lead.

　　The biggest shock was competition favorite Svetlana Tsarukaeva of Russia who wasted all her chances at 107kg and got knocked out from the final.

　　However, in the Clean and Jerk, Nekrassova couldn't hold on her advantage. She lifted 130kg with her first attempt but failed at 135kg twice. Pak, with the determination to pocket this gold, almost repeated Tsarukaeva's tragedy by failing her fist attempts on 135kg. Under tremendous pressure with her last try, she held her nerve and competed the 135kg, taking the gold medal with a total weight of 241kg. Nekrassova became runner-up with a total weight 240kg �C just one kilogram less.

　　Lu lifted 127kg with her first attempt, but failed her rest attempts at 130kg. She placed third with a total weight of 231kg.

　　Pak was the bronze medal winner at the 2007 World Championships. She finished sixth in Athens when she was just 16 years old. Her gold medal is also the DPRK's first ever Weightlifting Olympic gold medal.