Park hoists triple gold at World Weightlifting Championships

Park Hye-jeong won three gold medals at the 2025 World Weightlifting Championships on Saturday in Førde, Norway, taking the women’s super heavyweight title after overcoming back pain.

Park Hye-jeong [YONHAP]

Park Hye-jeong won three gold medals at the 2025 World Weightlifting Championships on Saturday in Førde, Norway, taking the women’s super heavyweight title after overcoming back pain.

Park lifted 125 kilograms (275 pounds) in the snatch and 158 kilograms in the clean and jerk for a total of 283 kilograms, finishing first in all three categories. Unlike the Olympics and Asian Games, which award medals based only on the combined total, the world championships give separate medals for each lift and for the overall total.

A silver medalist at the Paris Olympics, Park previously won the world title in Riyadh in 2023 and finished second in Manama in 2024. The win in Førde marks her second world championship title.

Park’s win came despite lingering back pain, which affected her performance throughout the competition.

Two of her main rivals — Li Wenwen of China, the Paris Olympic gold medalist, and Li Yan, the 2024 world champion — did not compete in the world championships.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom. BY PIH JU-YOUNG [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]