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Weightlifter Zhang Xiangsen took on the ultimate challenge to help gain China a second Olympic gold medal but a weak right elbow foiled his bid and he had to settle for silver.

  Zhang, the 1995 world champion and the lifter China had backed for Games success, attempted a weight close to his personal best in the 54-kilogram category to take the top prize - but for his elbow.

  The 23-year-old Chinese was beaten by Turk Halil Mutlu who piled the pressure on Zhang with a world record lift of 132.5 kilograms in the snatch section.

  Mutlu, who equalled Zhang's total in the World Championships but lost because he is heavier, added 155 kilograms in the clean and jerk to force the Chinese into an all-or-nothing lift of 157.5 kilograms.

  He hoisted the bar above his head but his elbow gave way and it fell behind him to accompanying groans from the crowd.

  Zhang's face after the competition mirrored his disappointment at coming so close to adding the Olympic title to his world crown.

  'I am really sad but I am still young and I have I have a chance to win at another Olympics,' said the 23-year-old. 'I aggravated an old injury to my right elbow in the snatch competition and if I had not done that I think I could have won - I was very close to lifting the 157.5 kilograms I needed.'   Mutlu, who admitted he hid his eyes as Zhang made his attempt, paid tribute to his Chinese opponent after what was a dramatic contest between powerful men lifting double their body weights.

  'I lost to him in the World Championships and I know how it feels,' Mutlu said.

  'He tried to reach the ultimate but failed. If I was in his position I would have done the same. I could not watch the final lift.

   'I am excited to take the Olympic gold today,' he said at a post-competition press conference.

   'It is not only a honour for me, but a honour for five million people in my country.'     Mutlu, who finished fifth in the last Olympic Games in Barcelona, had his long-time dream come true. 'The Olympic title is very important to me. It means a lot to me,' he said.

  After the international weightlifting federation made change to the 10 categories in 1993, aiming to clean the name of the sport, Mutlu began to dominate the 54-kilogram category.

  At the 1994 World Championships in Istanbul, Turkey, Mutlu had three world record weights to make a sweep clean of the three events in the category.

  In the 1995 World Championships in Guangzhou, China, he was beaten by Zhang on bodyweight difference.

  After the failure of Zhang and countryman Lan Shizang to take gold, the spotlight now falls on Zhan Xugang who won the world title in the 70 kilogram class last year in Guangzhou.

  But while Zhang has improved since November, Zhan suffered a major setback when he was beaten by Kim Myong-nam of North Korea in this year's Asian championship.

  'There is a hard road for Zhan if he is to come back and win the Olympic title,' admitted Chinese coach Yang Hanxiong.

  'He tends to become agitated between lifts and it is our job to try and relax him.' 



Old injury kills Zhang's glory bid