[Edaily Starin Lee Seok-Moo Reporter] Park Hye-jeong (Goyang City Hall), South Korea’s top female weightlifter in the super-heavyweight division, set two new national records and won a silver medal at the Asian Games. Although she fell short of defending her title, she made another significant mark.

On the 29th, at the Small and Medium Enterprise Promotion Hall in Nagoya, Japan, Park Hye-jeong competed in the women’s 86 kg+ weightlifting event at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, recording 133 kg in the snatch, 167 kg in the clean and jerk, and a total of 300 kg. She finished in second place behind Li Yuan-yuan (China), who lifted 140 kg in the snatch, 170 kg in the clean and jerk, and a total of 310 kg. Ousail Iklef (Qatar) took the bronze medal with a total of 273 kg.

Park Hye-jeong, the champion of the 2022 Hangzhou Games held in 2023, was aiming to become the first South Korean woman in weightlifting history to win back-to-back Asian Games titles. This time, however, she was unable to overcome Li Yuan-yuan, who had won consecutive gold medals at the Tokyo and Paris Olympics.

Park Hye-jeong set a new South Korean record right from the snatch. She lifted 133 kg, 2 kg heavier than her previous record of 131 kg. Although she trailed Li Yuan-yuan by 7 kg, she was 13 kg ahead of third-place finisher Iklef, putting her in a strong position to secure the silver medal. Iklef lifted 120 kg but failed consecutively at 129 kg and 131 kg.

The competition between Park Hye-jeong and Li Yuan-yuan continued in the clean and jerk. Park Hye-jeong lifted 167 kg to reach a total of 300 kg, setting a new South Korean record in the total as well as in the snatch. However, Li Yuan-yuan succeeded in lifting 170 kg on her second attempt in the clean and jerk, widening the gap with a total of 310 kg.

In her final third attempt, Park Hye-jeong challenged 173 kg, which would have been a personal best in the clean and jerk. Even if she had succeeded, she would not have been able to overtake Li Yuan-yuan, but she stepped up to the barbell to push beyond her limits. Ultimately, she was unable to lift it and finished the competition with a total of 300 kg.

Having already secured the gold medal, Li Yuan-yuan celebrated her victory with a ceremonial pose instead of lifting the barbell in her final third attempt. By claiming the top spot at the Asian Games following her victories at the Olympics and World Championships, she completed the “Grand Slam.”

Park Hye-jeong is the leading figure in South Korean women’s weightlifting, often referred to as the “post-Jang Mi-ran” generation. She began dreaming of becoming a weightlifter after watching footage of Jang Mi-ran’s competition during her first year of middle school. After consecutively claiming the top spot at the 2023 World Championships and the Hangzhou Asian Games, she won a silver medal with a total lift of 299 kg at the 2024 Paris Olympics, her first appearance at the Games. She continued the legacy of Olympic medals in the women’s heavyweight division for South Korea—the first in 12 years since Jang Mi-ran.