North Korea Sweeps Two Weightlifting Gold Medals in One Day to Soar in Medal Standings

The North Korean delegation, which had been experiencing a medal drought in the early stages of the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, secured two gold medals at once in weightlifting, its traditional powerhouse event, today (the 23rd), four days after the opening ceremony.

Ri Song-gum (28), a prominent female athlete for North Korea, captured her third consecutive Asian Games gold medal by lifting 94 kg in the snatch, 121 kg in the clean and jerk, and a total of 215 kg in the women's 49 kg weightlifting event held at the Nagoya Small and Medium Enterprise Promotion Center in Japan this afternoon.

Ri effortlessly lifted 90 kg on her very first attempt and soon succeeded at 94 kg as well, setting a world record and showcasing an overwhelming margin in skill.

In the clean and jerk, she immediately lifted 116 kg to secure the gold medal with a total of 210 kg, and subsequently succeeded at 121 kg to set new world records in both the clean and jerk and the total, roaring with triumph.

Ri has achieved international recognition through feats such as winning three consecutive Asian Games titles and World Championships, earning her the Kim Il-sung Youth Honor Prize and the title of People's Athlete, and was selected as one of North Korea's Top 10 Best Athletes in 2015 and from 2021 to 2025.

In the subsequent women's 53 kg event, Kang Hyon-gyong (27) claimed victory with a total of 223 kg, lifting 99 kg in the snatch and succeeding at 124 kg in the clean and jerk.

Each of these figures set new Asian Games records.

Kang was also selected last year as one of the Top 10 Best Athletes, an honor bestowed upon only 10 athletes across all sports in North Korea each year.

North Korea is widely regarded as a global weightlifting powerhouse.

The Korean Central News Agency reported last January that following the International Weightlifting Federation's weight class reorganization last year, North Korean athletes including Ri Song-gum, Oh Kwang-ok, Song Kuk-hyang, and Ri Suk held a total of 10 world records across all weight classes.

North Korea unfailingly reports on its weightlifting athletes achieving high marks in international competitions, utilizing the coverage for regime propaganda.

The KCNA introduced Ri as having trained under the country's systematically established reserve nurturing system.

At the venue on this day, a group of about 200 pro-North Korean residents in Japan, wearing red T-shirts bearing the message "Win, Joseon" and waving North Korean flags, filled the stadium.

They filled the arena with enthusiastic cheers every time Ri successfully completed an attempt.

Meanwhile, North Korea, which had continued a medal-less streak until the previous day and dropped outside the top 30 among the 46 participating delegations, significantly raised its interim overall ranking to a joint 9th place, propelled by the gold medals from Ri Song-gum and Kang Hyon-gyong.

Earlier that day, Kim Gum-yong, Pyon Song-gyung, Choi Jung-im, and Cha Su-young also secured a bronze medal in the women's team table tennis event.

As a result, the total number of medals secured by North Korea for the day reached five, including a silver medal in soft tennis by Ri Jin-mi and a bronze medal by Ri So-hyang.
 
(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.