South Korea snatches weightlifting bronze in men’s 67 kilograms

South Korea's Lee Sang-yeon scored a total 317 points, coming behind China’s Chen Lijun and North Korea’s Ri Won-ju who took gold and silver with 321 and 320 points, respectively.

South Korea's Lee Sang-yeon comes behind China and North Korea to take bronze in the men's 67 kilograms weightlifting contest at the Asian Games on Sunday. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

South Korean weightlifter Lee Sang-yeon took bronze in the men’s 67 kilograms division on Sunday at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.

It was South Korea’s first medal in weightlifting at this year’s Asiad.

Lee, 28, scored a total 317 points, coming behind China’s Chen Lijun and North Korea’s Ri Won-ju who took gold and silver with 321 and 320 points, respectively.

In weightlifting, final points are calculated by adding the best scores from the “snatch” and “clean and jerk” categories. The snatch is completed in one swift motion while the clean and jerk has two steps: cleaning the barbell by bringing it to the chest and then lifting it above the head. Each athlete has three attempts at either method.

All three medalists lifted 180 kilograms in the clean and jerk, with the final ranking determined by the first category, the snatch. Lee lifted a best of 137 kilograms in the snatch, falling short of Ri's 141 kilograms. Chen set a snatch record with 150 kilograms, setting a Games record in the snatch and overall.

At the last Asiad in 2018, South Korean weightlifters took five medals — three silver and two bronze — in the sport. North Korea lifters left with the most, 10 total — eight gold, one silver and one bronze.

The weightlifting schedule at this year’s Asian Games is set to continue through the week and wrap up on Saturday.

BY MARY YANG [mary.yang@joongang.co.kr]