North Korea is on course to give a hero's welcome for their team of six male and six female weightlifters this week who secured the greatest sporting triumph in the country's history at the International Weightlifting Federation championships being held in Kazakhstan.
Heading the medals tally for the first time, the team attained their 11th and 12th gold medals on Saturday. North Korea achieved their best results in the recently concluded Asian Games since 1990. According to a team official of the country's ruler, leader Kim Jong-un likes all kinds of sports especially weightlifting. He further said that leader believes they have the strongest weightlifters in the world with the best coaches and facilities, the Guardian reported.
Comparing their performance against China, the 20-year-old Un Hui-ryo, who emerged victorious in the women's 69kg category believes that there was a time when China dominated weightlifting for a long time, but that has become a thing of the past.