Minginfel settles for 10th place among younger lifters

Marz Akapito

Team Press Attaché   

London (July 31, 2012): After his successful last attempt at the ExCel- South Arena 3 in London the morning of July 30, Manuel Minginfel of Yap dropped the heavy 158 kg in the clean and jerk competition and punched the air with both fists while the crowd gave a thunderous roar.

Minginfel lifted in the B group of his 62kg category and finished with a combined weight of 285kg which put him in 10^th place out of 15 lifters. He lifted 127 in the snatch and 158 in the clean and jerk.

At the end of the morning session for the 62kg category, Minginfel was ranked number 3 behind Hasabi Muhamad of India who totaled 301kg and Saad Ahmed of Egypt with 292kg who dropped to 7^th and 9^th  after the group A finished in the afternoon.

Kim Un Guk of the People’s Republic of Korea won the gold medal with his powerful lift of 327kg which now stands as both the world record and Olympic record. Figueroa Mosquera Oscar Albeiro of Colombia claimed the silver medal with 317kg. Albeiro also has set a new Olympic record of 177kg in the clean and jerk.

Minginfel said he aimed to topple his personal best of 293kg in combined weight achieved six years ago in Santo Domingo, but the chance of that happening was out of range when he nearly scratched the clean and jerk starting weight of 158kg. When he made his third and final attempt for 158kg in the clean and jerk,  34 years old Minginfel gave his all, placing himself among the top 10 in the world at the moment and preventing what could have amounted to an unacceptable result.    

Minginfel now contemplates taking a short break after London. He said he could still take a few more years of competition, especially at the Oceania level, while helping other aspirants to further boost weightlifting in his country.