April 6 is the 7th match day of the Phuket Weightlifting World Cup in Thailand.
On this day of competition, North Korea's Lee Qingsong won three championships in the men's 81kg snatch, clean and jerk and overall score. In the men's 89kg competition, only Li Dayin won a bronze medal in the snatch.
For many years, the hegemon of world weightlifting has always been the Chinese team. Unexpectedly, in this World Cup, the North Korean team has sprung up and won the gold medal.
By the end of the competition on April 6, the Weightlifting World Cup had completed a total of 11 events, and based on the total results of each event, the North Korean team had won 7 gold medals, China 2, Indonesia and Bulgaria 1 each. North Korea is five gold medals ahead of China.
The next weightlifting World Cup, with 6 days of competition, will also produce 9 gold medals in total.
However, the Chinese team only competed in 4 of these events. In other words, even if the Chinese team wins the gold medal in the remaining four competitions, it will not be able to catch up with the North Korean team. As for the other teams, there is no possibility of catching up with the North Korean team.
So far, in this weightlifting World Cup, the North Korean team has locked the first place in the gold medal list 6 days in advance.
This is a remarkable achievement for a small sports country with just over 20 million people and a less developed economy.
Interestingly, North Korea has made a number of surprising moves after returning to international sports competitions in 2023. Last month, their Under-20 team won the Asian Cup by beating Japan in the final.
In the next paragraph, is it time for our sports to go to North Korea to study?