Ayoung weightlifter became the focus of attention of experts in the 58kgcategory of the girls’ weightlifting event of the 61st nationalsports school contest held this year.

Sheis Kim Yon Mi, student of Tongdaewon District After-school Sports School.

Shegrew up under the care of her grandparents after losing her parents due to anunexpected accident at the age of two.

Thebenevolent socialist system took all sorts of measures to bring her beautifuldream and gift into full bloom, paying closer attention to the orphaned girlthan other children under the care of their parents.

Inher kindergarten days, she was good at study and had a liking for music.

Oneday, after watching the DPRK weightlifting ace Rim Jong Sim bag a gold medal atan international game on TV, Kim said to her grandmother that she wanted to becomea weightlifter.

Muchsurprised, her grandmother turned down her request, saying she should studymusic.

Luckily,she came to have the favour of Ri Un Sim, weightlifting instructor of thesports school, who was busy travelling around to select children with anaptitude for weightlifting.

WhenRi visited Kim’s house and suggested her grandparents send Kim to the sportsschool, they rejected her suggestion. But Yon Mi said: “I badly want to doweightlifting, instructor. Please teach me weightlifting.”

Thisis how she started to learn weightlifting and she trained hard out of a desireto get gold medals just like Rim Jong Sim.

Herheart was filled with the determination to return the favour shown by the benevolentcountry which took good care of her so that she could grow up without a slightshadow on her face, supplying her like all other schoolchildren withbeautiful-coloured uniforms, schoolbags and other school things.

Evenon rest days and public holidays when others took rest, she went to school tolift barbells. She made it a rule to find her faults revealed during her dailytraining and the ways to overcome them every night before going to bed.

Hergreat passion and strenuous efforts paid off. She got three gold medals bywinning the girls’ 59kg category snatch, jerk and total at the 59thnational sports school contest.

Withoutresting on her laurels, she made redoubled efforts and snatched six golds lastyear by winning the 60th national sports school contest and thejunior weightlifting championships-2024 and three golds this year at the 61stnational sports school contest.

Theweightlifting circles have great expectations for the future of Kim Yon Mi, whois growing up to be a weightlifting ace under the well-organized reserveathletes training system provided by the DPRK’s socialist education system.