Taipei, Sept. 23 (CNA) Taiwan's Lin Tzu-chi has come a long way to bag a gold medal in the women's under-63kg weightlifting event at the Asian Games in South Korea on Tuesday.

Lin, 26, lifted a combined 261 kg in the snatch and the clean and jerk, a new world record in the weight category, to take gold by the slimmest of margins -- 2 kg -- over a Chinese lifter.

Lin Ching-tsung, Lin's father, watched his daughter's performance on live television and the whole family was overwhelmed with happiness in her proud moment.

The elder Lin recalled that he decided to move north from Pingtung to New Taipei 11 years ago to make more money. He runs a noodle stand in Xinzhuang and has to work 13-hour days, but finds the hardship worthwhile.

Four years ago, his daughter was injured and he shed tears with her. But she persisted, with the support of the family.

He said his wife had not wanted Tzu-chi to take up weightlifting in the first place, "feeling that it is not a very popular sport, but Tzu-chi made it through."

Lin Tzu-chi's gold medal followed a win two days earlier by Hsu Shu-ching, who won the country's only other gold of the games so far, also in women's weightlifting.

Both Lin and Hsu are graduate students at Kaohsiung Medical University's Department of Sports Medicine.

Hsu Mei-chi, who has provided guidance to both of them at the school, said that weightlifting is hard for women who want to look beautiful.

Hsu Mei-Chi said women weightlifters have to work hard and be careful about diet lest it affect their weight in competition. Nevertheless, they have to train rigorously to gain strength.

Both weightlifters "probably eat less that I do," Hsu Mei-chi added.

(By Sunrise Huang, Chen Chao-fu and Lilian Wu)
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