Ri Song Gum Got Second Place At The IWF Grand Prix II in Doha

Just a few months back, after returning to competition for the first time in four years, Ri Song Gum shook the world at the Asian Games by winning the gold medal and setting a new world record in the 49 kg category.

The pocket-sized athlete shocked the crowd as she raised the bar of 124 kg over her head – 4 kg more than ever lifted before in this low-weight class. For her, this accomplishment also meant winning the Asian Games for the second consecutive time after managing to do that five years ago in Jakarta. 

After such a staggering return, a lot was expected from Ri Song Gum, especially since the competition with China was heating up. Unfortunately for her, yesterday, during the second competition day at the IWF Grand Prix in Doha, she only managed to get to second place, leaving the gold medal to Jiang Huihua from China – the leader in the Olympic ranking for the 49 kg category. 

Ri finished with 93 kg on the snatch and 120 kg on the clean and jerk for a total of 213 kg, but that was not enough as she failed twice in her clean-and-jerk attempt and was unable to reach the world-record total that her Chinese competitor got to.

With that said, this is still a positive result for the representative of the DPRK, who managed to win silver and left behind her on the podium the Olympic champion Hou Zhihui from China.

Who’s Ri Song Gum?

Ri Song Gum is a weightlifter and representative of the DPRK, and she has a stellar international competing record. She has participated in the Asian Games twice, managing to win a gold medal each time, and she also earned a bronze medal at the 2019 World Championships in Pattaya, Thailand.

At the most recent edition of the Asian Games, the North Korean managed to set a world record in the women’s 49 kg by recording a 92 kg snatch and a 124 kg clean and jerk attempt for a total of 216 kg. 

The rivalry between the DPRK and China on the weightlifting podium will continue and is expected to peak at next year’s Olympic Games in Paris, where Jiang and Ri can meet again. 

If you want to see live how the IWF Grand Prix II day went for the women competing in the 49 kg category, then you can check out our video, which is full of highlights and key moments from the event.

Along with that, our coverage of the IWF Grand Prix continues until the last competition day, and on our blog, we’re constantly posting live updates, news, and results.