BATTLEFIELD: LOS ANGELES

NAGOYA, Japan (AFP) — North Korea’s weightlifters will flex their considerable collective muscle when they return to the Olympics for the first time in 12 years at Los Angeles in 2028 — and they could be in for an American gold rush if the Asian Games is any indication.

The secretive nation has been the dominant force in global weightlifting since emerging from self-imposed Covid exile, smashing six world records at the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023. They also won six gold medals.

In the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games in Japan this week, North Korea’s strongwomen and men have taken four gold medals and two silvers from six events so far.

They had also set seven world records by Friday night, less than halfway through the seven-day weightlifting program.

Ri Song Gum started the avalanche with gold and three world records in the women’s 49-kilogram class.

Asked if she would consider moving up to 53kg, the lowest women’s category at the next Olympics, the pocket powerhouse replied “Yes” as the 28-year-old chases the only title missing from her collection.

She will face competition from within, as compatriot Kang Hyon Gong was also dominant, winning the women’s 53kg gold a few hours later.

Oh Kwang Ok then set three more world records on her way to women’s 57kg gold on Friday.

“The Olympic Games in 2028 is my target,” Oh said in response to a question from AFP.

“I will try my best to win gold in Los Angeles. The world records are not enough.”

North Korea did not send any athletes to the delayed Tokyo Olympics as it sealed its borders during the pandemic.

After the Hangzhou Asian Games in September 2023, it was too late to qualify for Olympic weightlifting at Paris 2024.

Since then, North Korea has become an unstoppable force, especially in the sport’s lighter bodyweight classes.

In the 2024 World Championships in Manama, Bahrain, they were utterly dominant, winning 45 medals across all categories, 26 of them gold, with China next best on 14.

A year ago in Norway, North Korea topped the standings by a distance again with 17 golds.

It is a remarkable record for an impoverished country where food is in short supply.

“The North Korean regime has long viewed sports as a powerful propaganda tool and makes use of sporting success to spread its narratives about the strength of socialist ideology,” Shreyas Reddy, a North Korea analyst at the website NK News, told AFP.

He added that the Pyongyang sporting authorities focus their meager resources very scientifically.

“Rather than chasing success in events where victory can come down to natural-born brilliance and flair, North Korea’s sporting authorities instead pour their limited resources into sports that rely on more controllable elements, like strength and technique,” Reddy added.