jewishman said in #4986 2w ago:
I was curious tonight how different people would answer this question: Why, despite having a population of twenty-odd million—maybe a few million more, off the books—do North Korean weightlifters capture a decent share of titles and world records? The 2025 World Weightlifting Championships medal table is attached. They don't only produce rare, outstanding individuals but quite impressive teams. See: "The Strongest Team In Weightlifting": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfunZa_4dlY.
As I see it, historical expertise is part of the story. Seo Sang-cheon and nationalist bodybuilders. Soviet influence. The Armenians and Georgians and Uzbeks are solid, too. But North Korea did not always dominate to the extent it does now.
Glorification of physical prowess by state and society. Mass athletics and gang fights in the black market. Hard young men. Young female defectors lament in interviews that South Korean men lack the muscles and swagger of the boys back home. But a lot of North Korean women hold world records, too. There must be a lot of young, hungry athletes with nothing else to distract them. Join the army, work as a sex slave in Shenyang—or go lift weights!
Some of it might be peculiar focus on an unpopular sport. The best athletes have nowhere else to go but the weightlifting teams.
But is that it? Even if their pandemic-era withdrawal from competition allowed more intense supplementation, the answer is surely not a superior doping program. Everyone is on the same gear. And even if the athletes are coming out of military-aligned training academies, the coaching doesn't appear to be different from any other serious team.
My imagination is limited, however...
As I see it, historical expertise is part of the story. Seo Sang-cheon and nationalist bodybuilders. Soviet influence. The Armenians and Georgians and Uzbeks are solid, too. But North Korea did not always dominate to the extent it does now.
Glorification of physical prowess by state and society. Mass athletics and gang fights in the black market. Hard young men. Young female defectors lament in interviews that South Korean men lack the muscles and swagger of the boys back home. But a lot of North Korean women hold world records, too. There must be a lot of young, hungry athletes with nothing else to distract them. Join the army, work as a sex slave in Shenyang—or go lift weights!
Some of it might be peculiar focus on an unpopular sport. The best athletes have nowhere else to go but the weightlifting teams.
But is that it? Even if their pandemic-era withdrawal from competition allowed more intense supplementation, the answer is surely not a superior doping program. Everyone is on the same gear. And even if the athletes are coming out of military-aligned training academies, the coaching doesn't appear to be different from any other serious team.
My imagination is limited, however...
referenced by: >>4990
I was curious tonigh