NAGOYA — Park Hye-jung, the face of South Korean women's weightlifting, claimed a hard-earned silver medal at the Asian Games. The 23-year-old lifter for Goyang City Hall had aimed for a second straight title after the 2023 Hangzhou Games, but fell behind Li Wenwen, the 26-year-old Chinese lifter widely regarded as the world's best after winning back-to-back Olympic golds in Tokyo in 2021 and Paris in 2024.
In the women's unlimited class (over 86 kg) final at the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games, held on the 29th at the Small and Medium Business Promotion Hall in Nagoya, Japan, Park lifted 133 kg in the snatch and 167 kg in the clean and jerk for a combined 300 kg. The total was both a personal best and a Korean national record, surpassing the previous mark of 299 kg, but left her in second place.
The gold went to Li, who lifted 140 kg in the snatch and 170 kg in the clean and jerk for a combined 310 kg. Qatar's emerging weightlifting star Uysal Iklef, 23, took third with a combined 273 kg.
Park opened smoothly, easily lifting 125 kg on her first snatch attempt. She then lifted 130 kg on her second attempt and finished the snatch with 133 kg on her third.
But Li proved stronger. She set an Asian Games record by lifting 132 kg on her first attempt, then went on to lift 136 kg and 140 kg on her second and third attempts.
The rivalry continued in the clean and jerk. After lifting 163 kg on her first attempt, Park called for 167 kg on her second to try to overtake Li, who had made 166 kg, and succeeded. That brought her combined total to 300 kg, above her previous personal best. She failed at 173 kg on her third attempt.
Li lifted 170 kg on her second attempt. She entered 175 kg for her third attempt but did not lift.
At the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games, Park won gold with 125 kg in the snatch, 169 kg in the clean and jerk and a combined 294 kg. It was the first time in 13 years that a South Korean woman had won an Asian Games title in the heaviest weight class, following Jang Mi-ran at the 2010 Guangzhou Games. The following year, Park took silver at the Paris Olympics with 131 kg in the snatch, 168 kg in the clean and jerk and a combined 299 kg, then a Korean record.
She had targeted a second consecutive Asian Games title this time, but Li, the dominant force in the same weight class, stood in the way. Li missed the Hangzhou Games with an elbow injury and had been reported to have retired after completing her Olympic double in Paris, yet she appeared at these Games and won gold in her first Asian Games.
It was the third meeting between the two lifters, following the 2024 Paris Olympics and the IWF World Cup in Thailand. Li won the previous two by margins of 10 kg and 29 kg.
