Om Yun-chol

Om Yun-chol

Personal information
Nationality	North Korean
Born	(1991-11-18) 18 November 1991 (age 32) Chongjin, North Korea
Height	1.52 m (5 ft 0 in)
Weight	54.95 kg (121 lb)
Sport
Country	North Korea
Sport	Weightlifting
Event	–55 kg
Team	Amnokgang Sports Team
Achievements and titles
Personal bests	Snatch: 134 kg (2016) Clean and jerk: 171 kg (2015) Total: 303 kg (2016)
Medal record Men's weightlifting Representing  North Korea Olympic Games 2012 London –56 kg 2016 Rio de Janeiro –56 kg World Championships 2013 Wrocław –56 kg 2014 Almaty –56 kg 2015 Houston –56 kg 2018 Ashgabat –55 kg 2019 Pattaya –55 kg Asian Games 2014 Incheon –56 kg 2018 Jakarta-Palembang –56 kg Asian Championships 2013 Astana –56 kg Summer Universiade 2017 Taipei — 56 kg

Om Yun-chol or Um Yoon-chul (Korean: 엄윤철; Korean pronunciation: [ʌ.mjun.tsʰʌl] or [ʌm] [jun.tsʰʌl]; born 18 November 1991)^[1] is a North Korean retired^[2] weightlifter, coach, Olympic Champion, and five time World Champion competing in the 56 kg category until 2018 and 55 kg starting in 2018 after the International Weightlifting Federation reorganized the categories.^[3] He is 152 centimetres (5 ft 0 in) and weighs 55 kilograms (121 lb).^[1] Om represents the Amnokgang Sports Team.^[4]

He is also the fourth man to lift over 3 times bodyweight in the clean & jerk multiple times after succeeding in breaking the world record clean and jerk of 169 kg in the −56 kg weight class during the Asian Interclub Championships,^[5] and has accomplished this feat 3 more times since the Asian Interclub Championships, at the 2014 Asian Games, 2015 World Weightlifting Championships, and the 2016 Summer Olympics.

He was also the sixth man to lift at least triple his bodyweight in the clean & jerk in international competition, having done so seven times;^[6] the others are Naim Süleymanoğlu, Stefan Topurov,^[7] Long Qingquan, Halil Mutlu, and Neno Terziyski.

He has set six senior world records throughout his career, five in the clean & jerk and one in the total.

Early life

According to North Korean sources, he was born to a family of fishermen, in Sunam-guyok, Chongjin. Om was picked up by the weightlifting instructor Sin Gap-jun while practicing football at the local sports school.

Career

Olympics

He won the gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics at the men's 56 kg event,^[1] setting an Olympic Record in the clean and jerk with 168 kg,^[8] all while competing in the B session. He became only the fifth man to ever clean and jerk three times his own body weight.^[9]

At the men's 56 kg weightlifting event at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Om was a favorite to renew his gold from London. After breaking his own Olympic record with a lift of 169 kg, Om was surpassed by Long Qingquan and had to settle for the silver medal.^[10]

World Championships

He won his first World Championships in 2013, one year removed from becoming Olympic Champion, by beating Long Qingquan by 2 kg.

In 2014 he defended his title as World Champion by lifting 296 kg at the 2014 World Weightlifting Championships. His total was tied with second place Thạch Kim Tuấn but he won by virtue of a lighter body weight (55.71 vs. 55.75).

Following his World Championship win in 2014 he was the heavy favorite to win his third World championship in a row. He ended up winning the gold medal at the 2015 World Weightlifting Championships in spectacular fashion, after trailing Wu Jingbiao by 8 kg in the snatch (during which he set a new world record snatch of 168 kg) Om Yun-chol outlifted Wu Jingbiao by 8 kg in the clean and jerk setting a new world record clean and jerk of 171 kg. Their totals of 302 kg were tied, but yet again Om Yun-chol won by virtue of a lighter body weight.^[11]

He did not compete in the 2017 World Weightlifting Championships due to the North Korean team issuing a boycott of the Championships.^[12]

In 2018 the International Weightlifting Federation reorganized the categories and he competed in the newly created 55 kg, he won his fourth World Championships by a margin of 24 kg over the second-place finisher, while winning gold medals in all lifts. During the clean and jerk portion of the competition he set a new world record of 162 kg.^[13]

Asian Games

At the 2014 Asian Games he won the gold medal in the 56 kg, in the clean and jerk portion he set a new world record lift of 170 kg.^[14] His total of 298 kg was an Asian Record at the time of competition.^[15][16]

At the next Asian Games in 2018 he was the favorite to win another gold medal at the Games. After finishing in second place after the snatch portion of the competition, 1 kg behind Thạch Kim Tuấn, he outlifted him by 8 kg in the clean and jerk portion of the competition securing his second Asian Games gold medal.^[17][18]

Major results

Year	Venue	Weight	Snatch (kg)				Clean & Jerk (kg)				Total	Rank
			1	2	3	Rank	1	2	3	Rank
Olympic Games
2012	London, United Kingdom	56 kg	120	125	125	6	160	165	168	1	293
2016	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	56 kg	128	132	134	2	165	169	169	2	303
World Championships
2011	Paris, France	56 kg	115	118	118	10	152	152	152	5	267	6
2013	Wrocław, Poland	56 kg	124	127	130		162	170	--		289
2014	Almaty, Kazakhstan	56 kg	124	124	128	5	162	162	168		296
2015	Houston, United States	56 kg	127	131	133		165	171 WR	175		302
2018	Ashgabat, Turkmenistan	55 kg	120	125	128		155	162	162 WR		282
2019	Pattaya, Thailand	55 kg	121	126	128		155	163	166 CWR		294 CWR
Asian Games
2014	Incheon, South Korea	56 kg	123	128	131	3	160	166	170 WR	1	298
2018	Jakarta, Indonesia	56 kg	127	131	131	2	160	172	172	1	287
Asian Championships
2013	Astana, Kazakhstan	56 kg	122	126	126		160	169	169		286
2019	Ningbo, China	61 kg	125	130	133	7	165	172	172	4	295	6
Asian Interclub Championships
2013	Pyongyang, North Korea	56 kg	115	118	120		155	169 WR	--		289
World Junior Championships
2011	Penang, Malaysia	56 kg	115	121	121	6	150	156	156		271	4
Summer Universiade
2013	New Taipei, Taiwan	56 kg	122	129 UR	--		155	165 UR	172		294 UR

• CWR: Current world record
• WR: World record
• UR: Universiade record

References

External links

• Om Yun-chol at the International Weightlifting Federation
• Om Yun-chol at Olympics at Sports-Reference.com (archived)

This page was last edited on 24 March 2024, at 10:27