Ri Suk (; born 16 March 2003) is a North Korean

weightlifter Weightlifting or weight lifting generally refers to physical exercises and sports in which people lift weights, often in the form of dumbbells, barbells or machines. People engage in weightlifting for a variety of different reasons. These can ...

competing in the women's 64 kg category. She first competed at the 2018 Asian Youth and Junior Weightlifting Championships, winning both divisions. After four years from her last competition, she competed at the 2023 IWF Grand Prix II and set seven junior world records and broke the

clean and jerk The clean and jerk is a composite of two weightlifting movements, most often performed with a barbell: the clean and the jerk. During the ''clean'', the lifter moves the barbell from the floor to a racked position across the deltoids, without rest ...

world record held by Deng Wei at the time. She also competed at the 2024 Asian Weightlifting Championships and

2024 World Weightlifting Championships The 2024 World Weightlifting Championships was an Olympic weightlifting, weightlifting competition held in Manama, Bahrain, from 6 to 15 December 2024. Schedule Medal table Ranking by Big (Total result) medals Ranking by all medals: Big ...

, earning the gold medal in both editions for her first titles in the championships. As of June 2025, she holds the world records for the clean and jerk and total in the category.

Career

Ri Suk was born on 16 March 2003. She first competed at the 2018 Asian Youth and Junior Weightlifting Championships in

Urgench Urgench (//, ; ; ) is a district-level city in western Uzbekistan. It is the capital of Xorazm Region. The estimated population of Urgench in 2021 was 145,000, an increase from 139,100 in 1999. It lies on the Amu Darya River and the Shavat canal ...

, Uzbekistan, in the women's 53 kg category. There she lifted 87 kg in the snatch and 110 kg in the

for a total of 197 kg. She won the overall gold medals in both the youth and junior divisions. The following year, she competed at the 2019 edition of the event held in

Pyongyang Pyongyang () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is sometimes labeled as the "Capital of the Revolution" (). Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. Accordi ...

, North Korea, in October. In the women's 64 kg category, she lifted 96 kg in the snatch and 122 kg in the clean and jerk for a total of 218 kg, winning the youth division though placing second in the junior division behind Kumushkhon Fayzullaeva of Uzbekistan. After a four year absence from international competition, she returned at the 2023 IWF Grand Prix II in

Doha Doha ( ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It ...

, Qatar. She snatched 114 kg and clean and jerked 146 kg for a total of 260 kg in the women's 64 kg category. At this session, she had won the total gold medal, had broken seven

junior world record Junior or Juniors may refer to: Aircraft * Ekolot JK-05L Junior, a Polish ultralight aircraft * PZL-112 Junior, a Polish training aircraft * SZD-51 Junior, a Polish-made training and club glider Arts and entertainment Characters * Bowser Jr ...

s and had set a new senior world record in the clean and jerk, breaking Deng Wei's world record set four years prior. Ri's total was 2 kg off of Deng's world record. Ri competed at the 2024 Asian Weightlifting Championships in

Tashkent Tashkent (), also known as Toshkent, is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uzbekistan, largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of more than 3 million people as of April 1, 2024. I ...

, Uzbekistan; she competed in the same category. Ri had a snatch of 112 kg and a clean and jerk of 141 kg for a total of 253 kg, failing to lift 147 kg for her last attempt to break the then-world record held by her. She won the overall gold medal 49 kg over the category's second placer. She then had her first loss of her senior international career after placing second behind Rim Un-sim at the 2024 IWF World Cup in

Phuket Phuket (; , , or ''Tongkah'') is one of the Southern Thailand, southern Provinces of Thailand, provinces (''changwat'') of Thailand. It consists of the island of Phuket, List of islands of Thailand, the country's largest island, and another 3 ...

, Thailand. She snatched 108 kg and clean and jerked 140 kg for a total of 248 kg, placing second by 10 kg. Her first world championships were the

Riyadh Riyadh is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the Riyadh Governorate. Located on the eastern bank of Wadi Hanifa, the current form of the metropolis largely emerged in th ...

, Saudi Arabia. There she snatched 114 kg and clean and jerked 149 kg for a total of 264 kg, breaking the clean and jerk and total world records set by Deng five years ago at the 2019 Asian Weightlifting Championships in

Ningbo Ningbo is a sub-provincial city in northeastern Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. It comprises six urban districts, two satellite county-level cities, and two rural counties, including several islands in Hangzhou Bay and the Eas ...

, China.

Achievements

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Suk, Ri 2003 births Living people North Korean female weightlifters Place of birth missing (living people) World Weightlifting Championships medalists 21st-century North Korean sportswomen