More gold for Thai weightlifters, Thailand ninth in medal standings (Updated)

As of this morning, thanks to the weightlifters, Thailand stood ninth in the Olympic medal standings, ahead of host Brazil and ahead of countries like Great Britain, Denmark, France and Spain. Many are giving credit to Association head Boossaba Yodbangtoey.

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Noon update

Thailand has slipped a place to ninth but is still in the top ten at the end of Monday's Olympic competition.

Meanwhile, two Thai boxers have medals on their minds as well. Here is the story:

Thai boxers progess

Kittipong Thongsombat

Lightweight Amnat Ruenroeng and welterweight Sailom Ardee booked their places in the second round of the boxing competition at the 2016 Rio Games.

Amnat, a former IBF champion, took a 3-0 win over Ignacio Perrin of Argentina in the first round of the 60kg division, while Sailom edged Pavel Kastramin of Belarus 2-1 in the 69kg class yesterday morning, Thai time.

In his third fight as an amateur boxer after losing his IBF title in May, Amnat was never in trouble against the 31-year-old Argentine. He took a comfortable 30-27, 29-28, 30-27 win.

Meanwhile, Khon Kaen-native Sailom, who is making his third appearance in the Olympics, struggled against Kastramin but upped his game in the final round to seal a 28-29, 29-28, 29-28 victory.

Early morning story

More gold for Thai weightlifters, Thailand eighth in medal standings

As of this morning, Thailand stood eighth in the Olympic medal standings, ahead of host Brazil and ahead of countries like Great Britain, Denmark, France and Spain.

You can thank the weightlifters, particularly the women who have won two golds and a silver. The men haved added a bronze. The competition is not over, so there is still the possibility of more medals.

Last night the Thai women won a gold and a silver in the same event as Sukanya Srisurat pipped compatriot Pimsiri Sirikaew to gold in the women's 58kg weightlifting competition.

Sukanya, 21, lifted an Olympic record 110kg in the snatch and 130kg in the clean and jerk for a total of 240kg, beating the silver medallist by 8kg.

Twenty-six-year-old Pimsiri lifted 102kg in the snatch and jerked 130 for her total of 232kg to add another silver medal to the one she won at London four years ago.

Why are the Thai weightlifters so good? Many credit Boossaba Yodbangtoey, the president of the Thai Amateur Weightlifting Association. Here is a story from Reuters that explains why

How they win: The woman behind the medallists

By Brian Oliver, Reuters

RIO DE JANEIRO – Thailand's women weightlifters have made it two golds and one silver from three attempts and will aim for another medal on Tuesday when their fourth and final female team member competes in the 63kg competition.

They have been helped by the exclusion of doping cheats from other countries, but the driving force behind their success is a woman who treats the weightlifters as her own children and has negotiated lucrative sponsorship deals to fund a national performance centre and keep training full-time.

After Sopita Tanasan's victory in the 48kg on Saturday, the opening contest of the Rio Games, Thailand followed up with a one-two in the 58kg contest on Monday. Sukanya Srisurat won from Pimsiri Sirikaew, with Kuo Hsing-Chun of Taiwan taking the bronze.

Both medallists attributed Thailand's success to , the president of the Thai Amateur Weightlifting Association (TAWA) whose husband, Intarat, is vice-president of the Thai Olympic Committee and of the International Weightlifting Federation.

Srisurat had tested positive at a youth event just after her 16th birthday and served a two-year ban. When asked why she had doped she said she had not made the decision herself, was too young to know what she was taking and had returned to the sport as a clean athlete "because I never give up".

Ms Boossaba said: "I have no children of my own so these girls are like my own children. I would never do anything to harm them. They have all been tested many times before coming to Rio."

Srisurat's doping offence was caused by her club, Ms Boossaba said, not the national association. Srisurat was one of seven Thai teenagers who tested positive at youth events in 2011. There have been no positives since then.

Thailand has won five gold medals in weightlifting, all by women. They have five men in Rio but none is expected to challenge for gold. When Ms Boossaba was asked why there was such a disparity between men and women, she said: "Because the men are like teenagers, on the edge and hard to control. They want to go out and we have to get security to watch them at our training camp... The women are mostly from poor families and they all work hard."

TAWA is backed by the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) for 16 million baht a year for the four-year Olympic cycle. "We don't have government support," said Ms Boossaba. "The power authority is our main sponsor and we have other supporters from the private sector."

The state does provide Olympic medallists with big rewards, and Srisurat will be given about 12 million baht, said Ms Boossaba. "She will be rich!"

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