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Kuo Hsing-chun

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Kuo Hsing-chun (Tana)
Personal information
National teamTaiwan
Born (1993-11-26) 26 November 1993 (age 30)
Yilan, Taiwan
Years active2011–
Height1.55 m (5 ft 1 in)
Weight58.55 kg (129 lb)
Sport
CountryTaiwan
SportWeightlifting
Event(s)58 kg (2011–2018), 59 kg (2018–)
ClubFu Jen Catholic University
Achievements and titles
Personal bests
  • Snatch: 110 kg (2021)
  • Clean and jerk: 142 kg (2017)
  • Total: 249 kg (2017)

Kuo Hsing-chun (Chinese: 郭婞淳; pinyin: Guō Xìngchún; Amis name: Tana; born 26 November 1993) is a Taiwanese Amis weightlifter, Olympic gold medalist, five time world champion, two time Universiade champion, Asian Games champion, and five time Asian champion,[1] competing in the 58 kg division until 2018 and 59 kg starting in 2018 after the International Weightlifting Federation reorganized the categories.[2] She has set 11 senior world records in her career.

Early life

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Kuo Hsing-chun was born in Yilan in 1993. She never knew her biological father, and was raised primarily by her grandmother, as her mother was frequently working. Kuo's given name, Hsing-chun, alludes to the difficult circumstances of her birth, as it sounds similar to hsing tsun (倖存), which means to have survived by luck or accident in Mandarin. When Kuo was born, her umbilical cord wound itself around her neck. In addition, her mother was in labor for over ten hours. The family moved repeatedly, living with several different relatives. Kuo began lifting weights in junior high school, and played a number of sports, including basketball, track and field, and soccer. She chose to specialize in weightlifting in high school.[3][4]

Career

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Olympics

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In 2012, she competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the women's 58 kg category and placed sixth overall.

At the 2016 Summer Olympics, she competed in the 58 kg category. In the snatch portion of the competition, she completed her first lift of 102 kg, but was unable to complete her last two lifts of 105 kg. Going into the clean and jerk portion of the competition, she was in third place, as she was 8 kg behind Sukanya Srisurat and tied in weight with Pimsiri Sirikaew (Pimsiri Sirikaew weighed .46 kg less). In the clean and jerk portion, she completed a 129 kg lift which secured her at least a bronze medal finish. For her final lift, she attempted an Olympic record lift of 139 kg, which would put her in first place, but was unable to lift it.[5] She won a bronze medal[6][7] with a total of 231 kg.[8]

In 2021, she won a gold medal and broke three Olympic records in the women's 59 kg weightlifting competition at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.[9][10][11] She won the bronze medal in the women's 59 kg event at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France.[12]

World Championships

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In 2013, she competed at the 2013 World Weightlifting Championships in the 58 kg category. After the snatch portion of the competition she was in second place behind Deng Wei, they both had lifted 108 kg, but Deng Wei was 0.46 kg lighter. In the clean and jerk portion of the competition, she lifted 133 kg in her first attempt, after Deng Wei was unable to complete any of her clean and jerks, she had the gold medal secured.[13] Her total of 241 kg was a full 13 kg over the silver medalist Alexandra Escobar.

The 2015 World Weightlifting Championships was her first competition back from a disappointing year (due to injury), and she competed in the 58 kg category. After the snatch portion of the competition, she was in fourth place with 103 kg, the leader Boyanka Kostova set a world record in the snatch with 112 kg. In the clean and jerk portion, she lifted 133 kg with her final lift securing a bronze medal in the clean and jerk and in the total.[14]

Kuo Hsing-chun (right) accepting souvenirs from President Tsai Ing-wen in August 2017

Coming into the 2017 World Weightlifting Championships, she was expected to put up a solid performance after her record-setting performance at the 2017 Summer Universiade. She competed in the 58 kg category, against the reigning Olympic Champion Sukanya Srisurat and it was expected to be a close competition. After the snatch portion, Sukanya Srisurat was in the gold medal position with 105 kg, Kuo also lifted the same, but Srisurat had lifted the weight first. In the clean and jerk portion, Sukanya Srisurat had completed all of her attempts before Kuo had attempted any of her lifts. She made her first lift of 126 kg, securing the gold medal. She added onto that total, lifting 135 kg in the clean and jerk, finishing with 240 kg, a full 15 kg more than reigning Olympic Champion, and silver medalist Srisurat.[15]

In 2018, the International Weightlifting Federation reorganized the categories, and Kuo competed at the 2018 World Weightlifting Championships in the new 59 kg category. In the snatch portion, she lifted a new world record of 105 kg, and led going into the clean and jerk portion by 2 kg over the silver medalist Hoàng Thị Duyên and bronze medallist Rebeka Koha. During the clean and jerk portion, she successfully lifted 128 kg in her first attempt, setting a new world record in the total. With her last successful lift of 132 kg she set a new world record in the clean and jerk and total.[16] Chen Guiming, the eventual silver medalist attempted a world record lift of 140 kg, which would have given her the lead, but she was unable to lift it. As a result, Kuo won the gold medal in the total. She set four senior world records in the competition and won her third World Championships.[17]

Kuo competed in the 2019 World Weightlifting Championships, where she broke two of her own world records in the women's 59 kg category, with 140 kg in the clean and jerk, and 246 kg in the combined lift.[18]

In 2021, she won the gold medal in the women's 59 kg event at the 2021 World Weightlifting Championships held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.[19][20] She won the silver medal in the women's 59 kg event at the 2022 World Weightlifting Championships held in Bogotá, Colombia.[21][22] In 2023, she won the silver medal in the women's 59 kg Clean & Jerk event at the World Weightlifting Championships held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.[23]

Asian Games

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Before the 2014 Asian Games, she suffered an injury to her leg,[24] which left her confined to a wheelchair for a month, as a result of the injury she donated an ambulance to Taitung hospital.[25][26] Injury notwithstanding, she went on to place fourth at the 2014 Asian Games in the 58 kg category.

She was the flag bearer for Taiwan at the 2018 Asian Games[27] where she competed in the 58 kg category. After the snatch portion of the competition she led Sukanya Srisurat by 2 kg with 105 kg. In the clean and jerk portion of the competition she secured the gold medal with her first lift of 125 kg,[28] her next attempt was called at 133 kg, but there was an error loading the bar and only 130.5 kg was put on,[29] she made the lift with a lopsided bar (one side weighed 2.5 kg more than the other) and received credit for 130 kg. Her last attempt in the clean and jerk was for a world record weight of 143 kg but she was unable to make the lift.

Universiade

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Kuo won gold at the 2017 Summer Universiade and set a world record of 142 kg for the clean and jerk in her final lift.[30][31] Following her performance at the Universiade, Kuo was awarded the Order of Brilliant Star,[32] and chose to donate her winnings, totaling NT$1.9 million ($68022.34), back to her community.[33]

Asian Weightlifting Championships

[edit]

Kuo competed at the 2019 Asian Weightlifting Championships in the 59 kg category. After her second successful lift of 103 kg, she had secured a gold medal in the snatch, and attempted a world record lift of 106 kg which she successfully completed. In the clean and jerk portion, she had a gold medal in the total virtually guaranteed with her second lift of 134 kg, this gave her a new world record total of 240 kg. Her last attempt of 137 kg broke the clean and jerk world record, and the total world record she had just set. Chen Guiming attempted a 138 kg clean and jerk, but was unable to complete the lift which gave Chen a silver medal in the total, a full 10 kg behind gold medalist Kuo.[34]

Major results

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Year Venue Weight Snatch (kg) Clean and jerk (kg) Total Rank
1 2 3 Rank 1 2 3 Rank
Olympic Games
2012 London, Great Britain 58 kg 99 101 102 129 133 133 228 6
2016 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 58 kg 102 105 105 129 129 139 231 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
2021 Tokyo, Japan 59 kg 100 103 103 OR 125 133 OR 141 236 OR 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2024 Paris, France 59 kg 103 105 105 130 130 137 235 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
World Championships
2011 Paris, France 58 kg 90 94 96 11 118 122 122 8 212 10
2013 Wrocław, Poland 58 kg 103 106 108 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 133 136 136 1st place, gold medalist(s) 241 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2014 Almaty, Kazakhstan 58 kg 98 98 100 6 125 129 131 5 223 5
2015 Houston, United States 58 kg 104 107 107 4 133 133 133 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 237 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
2017 Anaheim, United States 58 kg 99 102 105 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 126 131 135 1st place, gold medalist(s) 240 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2018 Ashgabat, Turkmenistan 59 kg 100 103 105 WR 1st place, gold medalist(s) 128 132 132 WR 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 237 WR 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2019 Pattaya, Thailand 59 kg 103 106 106 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 133 137 140 CWR 1st place, gold medalist(s) 246 WR 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2021 Tashkent, Uzbekistan 59 kg 97 100 102 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 125 128 130 1st place, gold medalist(s) 230 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2022 Bogotá, Colombia 59 kg 100 102 102 4 126 129 130 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 232 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
2023 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia 59 kg 95 98 101 4 120 125 130 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 231 4
IWF World Cup
2019 Tianjin, China 64 kg 100 103 105 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 130 135 141 1st place, gold medalist(s) 246 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
2024 Phuket, Thailand 59 kg 98 100 102 10 125 130 4 230 5
Asian Games
2014 Incheon, South Korea 58 kg 95 95 98 120 124 128 219 4
2018 Jakarta, Indonesia 58 kg 100 103 105 125 130 143 235 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2023 Hangzhou, China 59 kg 97 99 101 122 126 128 227 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Summer Universiade
2013 Kazan, Russia 58 kg 100 102 104 126 130 134 238 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2017 New Taipei, Taiwan 58 kg 102 105 107 133 136 142 WR 249 1st place, gold medalist(s)
Asian Championships
2012 Pyeongtaek, South Korea 58 kg 94 98 98 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 123 128 130 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 228 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
2013 Astana, Kazakhstan 58 kg 102 105 105 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 131 134 134 1st place, gold medalist(s) 236 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2016 Tashkent, Uzbekistan 58 kg 97 100 103 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 128 131 135 1st place, gold medalist(s) 238 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2017 Ashgabat, Turkmenistan 58 kg 98 101 104 1st place, gold medalist(s) 128 133 137 1st place, gold medalist(s) 241 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2019 Ningbo, China 59 kg 100 103 106 WR 1st place, gold medalist(s) 130 134 137 WR 1st place, gold medalist(s) 243 WR 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2021 Tashkent, Uzbekistan 59 kg 105 107 110 WR 1st place, gold medalist(s) 133 133 137 1st place, gold medalist(s) 247 WR 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2023 Jinju, South Korea 59 kg 98 100 102 3 128 132 135 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 230 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Youth Olympic Games
2010 Singapore, Singapore 53 kg 72 75 77 90 95 97 174 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
  • CWR: Current world record
  • WR: World record

See also

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References

[edit]
  1. ^ Liao, George (1 March 2017). "Taiwanese Olympic Medalist is Confident of Getting Best Results from Taipei Universiade". Taiwan News.
  2. ^ "Start List Women 59kg A" (PDF). International Weightlifting Federation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 November 2018.
  3. ^ Lu, Tyson; Lung, Po-an; Chiang, Yi-ching (28 July 2021). "Kuo Thrilled at Winning Olympic Gold, but Could be Hungry for More". Focus Taiwan (CNA English News). Central News Agency. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  4. ^ Chao, Yen-hsiang (9 August 2024). "FEATURE/Imperfect but real: Kuo Hsing-chun accepts being 'not my old self'". Central News Agency. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
  5. ^ Oliver, Brian (9 August 2016). "Thailand's Women Leave Men in Shade with 58kg One-Two". Reuters. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
  6. ^ Beck, Tom (9 August 2016). "Olympic Weightlifting 2016: Medal Winners and Scores After Monday's Results". Bleacher Report.
  7. ^ "Weightlifter Kuo Hsing-chun Wins Bronze at Games". Taipei Times. 10 August 2016. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
  8. ^ "Former YOG Stars Reach New Heights". Olympic.org. 10 December 2018. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
  9. ^ "Kuo Hsing-Chun Powers Her Way to Gold in the Women's 59kg Weightlifting". The Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. 27 July 2021. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  10. ^ Long, Bo-an; Teng, Pei-ju (27 July 2021). "Kuo Hsing-chun Wins Taiwan's First Gold Medal in Tokyo (Update)". Focus Taiwan (CNA English News). Central News Agency. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  11. ^ "Women's 59 kg Results" (PDF). Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 July 2021. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
  12. ^ "Weightlifting Results Book" (PDF). 2024 Summer Olympics. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 August 2024. Retrieved 12 August 2024.
  13. ^ "Chinese Taipei Lifter Wins Gold at Women's 58kg in World Championships". ChinaDaily.com.cn. Xinhua. 24 October 2013. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
  14. ^ "Two More World Records as Kostova and "The New Shi" Take the Honours". International Weightlifting Federation. 24 November 2015. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
  15. ^ "Rio Olympic Bronze Medallist Defeated the Reigning Olympic Champion". International Weightlifting Federation. December 2017. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
  16. ^ "World Records: Kuo Four and Chen One". International Weightlifting Federation. 4 November 2018. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
  17. ^ "Kuo Hsing-chun Grabs 2 Gold, 1 Silver at World Weightlifting Championships". Taiwan Today. 5 November 2018. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
  18. ^ Huang, Chiao-wen; Ko, Lin (21 September 2019). "Taiwan Weightlifter Breaks World Records, Wins 2 Golds". Focus Taiwan News Channel. Central News Agency. Archived from the original on 21 September 2019. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
  19. ^ Oliver, Brian (11 December 2021). "Olympic gold, Vogue front cover, and another world title for weightlifter Kuo". InsideTheGames.biz. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
  20. ^ "2021 World Weightlifting Championships Results Book" (PDF). International Weightlifting Federation. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 December 2021. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  21. ^ Oliver, Brian (8 December 2022). "Colombians go wild as Álvarez beats two Olympic champions at weightlifting World Championships". InsideTheGames.biz. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
  22. ^ "2022 World Weightlifting Championships Results Book" (PDF). IWF. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 December 2022. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  23. ^ "2023 World Weightlifting Championships Results Book" (PDF). International Weightlifting Federation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 September 2023. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
  24. ^ "Athlete Biography". International Weightlifting Federation. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
  25. ^ Everington, Keoni (23 August 2017). "Taiwanese Weightlifter Kuo Receives NT$1 Million for World Record". Taiwan News.
  26. ^ Liang, Kelvin (15 September 2017). "Olympic Weightlifter Kuo Hsing-chun Talks Weightlifting and Giving Back". city543.com. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
  27. ^ "Weightlifter Kuo Hsing-chun to be Taiwan's Flag Bearer at Asian Games". Focus Taiwan News Channel. Central News Agency. Archived from the original on 9 December 2018. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
  28. ^ Green, David, ed. (24 August 2018). "Taiwan News: Gold for Kuo in Asian Games Weightlifting as Rain Batters Taiwan". The News Lens. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
  29. ^ Li, Xia (ed.). "In Pics: Women's Weightlifting 58kg Event at 18th Asian Games". Xinhuanet. Xinhua. Archived from the original on 30 April 2019. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
  30. ^ "Universiade: Taiwan Weightlifter Breaks World Record". Focus Taiwan (CNA English News). Central News Agency. 21 August 2017. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  31. ^ Kao, Eric (20 November 2017). "Taiwanese Weightlifter Kuo Hsingchun Appears on Cover of World Weightlifting Magazine". Taiwan News. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
  32. ^ Yeh, Sophia; Low, Y. F. (7 September 2017). "Record-Breaking Weightlifter Receives National Honor". Focus Taiwan News Channel. Central News Agency. Archived from the original on 8 September 2017. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
  33. ^ "Kuo Hsing-chun Receives Prize Money for Breaking World Record". International Weightlifting Federation. 24 August 2017. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
  34. ^ Lung, Po-an; Kao, Evelyn (23 April 2019). "Kuo Hsing-chun Wins 3 Golds at Asian Weightlifting Championships". Focus Taiwan News Channel. Central News Agency. Archived from the original on 23 April 2019. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
[edit]
Olympic Games
Preceded by Flagbearer for  Chinese Taipei
(with Lu Yen-hsun)
Tokyo 2020
Succeeded by
Incumbent