Faces of the Games | Zeng Yuanqing, guardian of Asian Games weightlifting event

Zeng Yuanqing (left) carries out preparations for the upcoming Asian Games Hangzhou 2022. [Photo/qz1233.com]

The Chinese weightlifting team recently announced its list of participants for the Hangzhou Asian Games, with more than 10 Olympic and world champions selected.

As the Chinese weightlifters prepare for the Hangzhou Asian Games, Zeng Yuanqing, a physical education teacher at Jiangshan No 2 Middle School who is passionate about weightlifting, has also embarked on his own path towards achieving his dream.

This Hangzhou Asian Games have given Zeng Yuanqing a new identity - the supervisor of the weightlifting training warm-up venue for the Hangzhou Asian Games.

Zeng, 55, is also an international first-level referee for weightlifting.

Throughout his more than 30 years of teaching, Zeng has been committed to the development of weightlifting in Jiangshan, a county-level city of Quzhou, Zhejiang province.

He has trained many weightlifters, with his students winning more than 100 national and provincial weightlifting gold medals. He has also served as chief referee for many provincial and national weightlifting competitions, with abundant experience in large-scale events.

"Everyone has their own Asian Games dream," said Zeng. He said he is honored to participate in preparation work for the Asian Games and sees it as a rare learning opportunity.

He hopes that more people will take an interest in weightlifting so that the sport can develop more.

The Xiaoshan Sports Center Gymnasium is the competition venue for the weightlifting events of the Hangzhou Asian Games and Asian Para Games. A total of 14 Asian Games weightlifting gold medals and 20 Asian Para Games gold medals will be given out at the venue.

"The warm-up area needs to be equipped with auxiliary equipment such as weightlifting platforms and barbells. It seems simple, but when setting it up, various factors need to be considered," said Zeng. The warm-up situation is closely related to the athlete's competition status and performance.

In addition to venue layout, Zeng and his team have also carefully developed emergency plans for competition venues to ensure that they are always ready to check and replace warm-up equipment, provide water supplies, and quickly change competition equipment.

"Our ‘battlefield’ is behind-the-scenes. When athletes come to compete, we do our best to provide all the necessary services. Their strong performance is our greatest encouragement," added Zeng.