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Veteran weightlifters determined to satisfy Olympics curiosity
Veteran weightlifters Eko Yuli Irawan and Deni are determined to qualify to the Tokyo Olympics next year after bagging golds at the 30th Southeast Asian Games in the Philippines.
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Indonesian weightlifter Eko Yuli Irawan shows his gold medal after winning the men's 61 kilograms category at the 30th Southeast Asian Games in the Philippines on Monday, Dec. 2, 2019. (JP/Ramadani Saputra)
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s a seasoned athlete who has recorded a lot of prestigious world achievements, Eko Yuli Irawan just needs one more thing to complete the collection of medals in his home.
Throughout his weightlifting career, which started in 2000, the 30-year-old never won an Olympic gold medal in the three Summer Games he attended, from the Beijing to Rio de Janeiro.
He achieved his best Olympics record three years ago in Brazil as he managed to clinch a silver in the men’s 62 kilogram. Eko previously won bronze in the 58 kg category in the Beijing Olympics and another bronze in the men’s 62 kg in the London Olympics.
Therefore, after ensuring a gold medal at the men’s 61 kg at the 30th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games on Monday, Eko said his next goal was the Olympics, an attempt to break his own medal record at the sporting event.
Monday’s gold medal was Eko’s fifth in the biennial event. He had collected four previous gold medals in the 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2013 SEA Games. Weightlifting was not contested during the 2015 Sea Games in Singapore, while in the 2017 SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Eko lost to Vietnam’s Trịnh Văn Vinh and won silver.
Aiming to avoid what happened during the 2017 SEA Games, Eko entered Monday’s bout in Ninoy Aquino Stadium with a full mission, treating the competition as a mini Olympics.
