China's Wang Mingjuan extended a 10-year unbeaten international record to win gold in the first women's weightlifting event of the London [ Images ] Games, giving the Chinese team a perfect start in their defence of four Olympic titles.
- London Olympics 2012 - Complete coverage
Wang, 26, eased to victory in the 48-kilogram weight division, lifting a combined total of 205kgs to the delight of the strong Chinese contingent in the 6,000-seat ExCel arena.
Lifting the heaviest weight in both styles of lift - the explosive one-phase snatch and the two-stage clean and jerk - Wang posted a total of 8kg more than silver-medal winner Hiromi Miyake from Japan [ Images ].
Ryang Chun Hwa of North Korea took the bronze with a total of 192kg, edging out 17-year-old Sirivimon Pramongkhol of Thailand.
Thai Panida Khamsri, expected to be a strong medal contender, exited the competition early with three failures at 81kg in the snatch lift - 10kgs short of Wang's best weight - leaving the platform with what looked to be an elbow injury.
Wang was competing in her first Olympics [ Images ], despite having won every international tournament she has participated in, after suffering major injury problems and missing out on selection for the Athens and Beijing [ Images ] Games.
The gold, China's second on the opening day of the Games, will come as relief for the selectors, who chose Wang in preference to 19-year-old reigning world champion Tian Yuan.
Photograph: Hassan Ammar/AP
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