Olympic Stories- Turkish Female Weightlifter (almost) Medals

Though Chinese women's weightlifter Wang Minigjuan, who turns 27 in October, (pictured below) won the gold medal in the 48-kilogram lightweight division on Saturday at the 2012 London Olympics, Nurdan Karagoz, 25, got considerable media coverage in her native Turkey as she finished fifth.

Karagoz scored a 187, which was the result total of her three combined lifts. Earlier, Karagoz won silver at the European Championships held in Antalya, Turkey, she won that some color medal at the previous European Championships in Russia. Additionally, Karagoz won a bronze medal at the 2011 World Championships in France.

Weightlifting has been a popular sport in Turkey since the legendary men's weightlifter Naim Suleymanoglu, aka the Pocket Hercules, won a gold medal in the sport at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. 

Despite being a four-time world champion (2002, 2003, 2005 and 2009), Wang Mingjuan had never competed in the Olympics due to injuries. In London, the Chinese lifter pulled 91 kilograms in the snatch and 114 kilograms in the clean and jerk.

Except for Karagoz, each of the top six finishers was from an Asian-Pacific nation. Hiromi Miayke of Japan won silver andd Ryang Chun Hwa of North Korea captured the bronze.