Sopita wins first Rio weightlifting gold for Thailand

RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug 8 (TNA) -- Thailand's Sopita Tanasan grapbed the first gold medal of the weightlifting compition at the Rio Games, the women's 48kg, becoming the fourth Thai woman to win Olympic gold in the sport. The 22-year-old dominated the women's 48kg, lifting 92kg in the snatch and 108kg in the clean and jerk for a total of 200kg to finish first in weightlifting's lightest category. Sopita won easily, helped by the withdrawal last week of the strong favourite from China, Hou Zhihui, who failed to recover from an injured knee. Sopita from the southern province of Chumphon lifted 8kg more than silver medallist Sri Wahyuni Agustiani of Indonesia while Japanese lifter Hiromi Mayake, competing in her fourth Games took bronze with a total of 188kg. Her only stumble came when she failed to lift 110kg in her final attempt of the night. That left Agustiani needing to haul 115kg to take first place. The Indonesian had two opportunities but both attempts have failed. Sopita is the fourth women's weightlifter from Thailand to win an Olympic gold medal. Sopita also known as Nan was a regular lifter in the 53kg class but she changed to compete in the 48kg category for Rio Olympic. The weightlifting competition is being held at at the the 6,000-capacity Riocentro Pavilion 2. (TNA)