Pak Hyon Suk wins gold in women's weightlifting, Girard bumped to 4th

Last Updated: Tuesday, August 12, 2008 | 9:12 AM ET

CBC Sports

Pak Hyon Suk from North Korea lifts 135 kilograms to win the gold medal in the women's 63-kg division at the 2008 Beijing Games on Tuesday. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)

For a moment, Canada's Christine Girard — and all those watching her — likely thought she'd won an Olympic medal.

And for a moment, she almost had.

In the women's 58-63 kilogram weightlifting contest, which took place on Day 4 of the Olympics, each of the competitors, including Girard, had already lifted, except for one.

Girard, who'd lifted 228 kg in total, was sitting in third place.

Enter Pak Hyon Suk of North Korea, who took the stage for the first time in the competition.

After snatching 105 kg, she attempted 135 kg in the clean and jerk, which, if cleared, would put her ahead of all the others.

First attempt - missed.

Second attempt - missed again.

"At that point, you know those top three lifters are sitting there thinking, 'If she misses again, we've got it," said CBC analyst Aldo Roy. "You know, the North Korean girl misses the first two, so Christine must have been sitting there thinking, 'One more miss, and I've got it.'"

Third attempt - successful. Pak took gold and bumped Girard, of Rouyn-Noranda, Que., to fourth place in the final seconds of the competition.

"It must have been sheer grit and determination," Roy said of the North Korean's winning lift, adding, "Christine lifted fabulously."

Girard should feel proud, specifically, he said, of her efforts in the snatch. Girard's best going into the Olympics was 100 kg but on the Beijing stage, she increased that by two kilos.

"She did what she was supposed to do in the snatch, she improved her best results," Roy said.

Unfortunately, he added, while the clean and jerk is normally her stronger suit, it wasn't her best lift that day.

"She never misses on that one. She was so close to a medal," he said, noting that Girard's efforts to get to the Olympics illustrates the sincere will of amateur athletes.

"She trains in her grandfather's barn. They have a woodburning stove in their so she can train when it's cold," he said.

Slightly behind Pak's 241 kg total (including 106 kg in the snatch), was Irina Nekrassova of Kazakhstan, who took silver with a total lift of 240 kg.

Chinese Taipei's Lu Ying-chi, who won bronze by lifting three kilos more than Girard, lifted a total of 231 kg.

Prior to the Olympics, Girard, 23, had a total lift of 231 kg, which ranked her in the top three in the world at the time, and made her a legitimate podium threat.

The event did not feature world champion and world record-holder Liu Haixia of China, who was held out of the competition because the Olympic host chose to prioritize other weight categories.

A rule in the Olympic weightlifting competition limits countries to four women competitors.

That made Russia's Svetlana Tsarukaeva the favourite to win the event, but she was eliminated after three failed attempts to lift 107 kg in the snatch.

China golden in men's 69 kg

In other weightlifting action on Tuesday, China's Liao Hui won the men's 69 kg category. Liao snatched 158 kg, and heaved 190 kg in the clean and jerk for a total of 348 kg. France's Vencelas Dabaya-Tientcheu took the silver and European champion Tigran Martirosyan of Armenia claimed the bronze.

Francis Luna-Grenier of Montreal finished 17th, lifting 131 kg in the snatch and 162 kg in the clean and jerk, for a total of 293 kg. Roy said this was a good result considering he competed with the bottom 10 of 30 competitors.

"After competing he jumped all the way to 17th," he said, adding, however, "But, I'm sure he'll be the first one to tell you, it wasn't his best competition."