Long Qingquan enjoys his fist-pump moments after he won the gold medal. [Agencies]

Young, exuberant and fearless.

It was his first international competition but China's Long Qingquan, 18, put on a flawless show and convincingly won the men's 56kg weightlifting gold Sunday.

Long, from Hunan province, lifted a total of 292kg, a new world junior record, to see China atop the category in the Olympics for the second time. China's first gold dates back to 24 years, when Wu Shude triumphed at Los Angeles. Since then, the category has been dominated by Turkish legend Halil Mutlu in the past three Olympics.

"I deserved to win the gold medal because I worked very hard," Long said. "But at the same time, I am surprised."

Long was a surprising selection. He was chosen ahead of the more experienced and established lifter, world champion Li Zhen. Long had never competed internationally before Sunday's tournament and was a total unknown to his rivals. "I've never heard of him," said the bronze medalist Irawan Yuli Eko from Indonesia. "He did not take part in the World Championships in 2006 and 2007. But he is such a powerful and up-and-coming athlete."

Even for those who knew him, such as silver medalist Hoang Anh Tuan of Vietnam -- he trained with the Chinese for three months in Long's hometown in 2006 -- did not expect to compete with his good friend Long for an Olympic gold.

"The only information I had about him before the Olympics was that he was China's national champion in 2007."

In fact, Long was an unknown in Chinese weightlifting circles till he won the nationals last year, with a total lift of 286kg. It shot him into prominence but there was no guarantee that he would do well in the Olympics.

His major Olympic rivals, Hoang, the 2006 Asian Games champion and 2008 Asian champion, and 2007 world champion Cha Kum-chol of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, both had registered totals that were very close to his lift.

But Sunday, it was just a one-man show for Long.

He succeeded with all three of his lifts in the snatch. In the process, he set a junior world record at 132kg.

He secured his gold medal with two attempts on clear and jerk.

The key to Long's win was his confidence, despite his inexperience in international competition.

Said Long: "I am a little bit nervous in competition, but I have confidence in myself. No matter how strong my rivals are, I just concentrate on every lift.

"I knew almost nothing about my rivals but that probably helped because I felt less pressure."

Long's gold was the sixth for China in the Beijing Games, and the second for the weightlifting team: Chen Xiexia won the women's 48kg on the opening day.

Hoang and Irawan also made history. They became the first male Olympic medalists in weightlifting for their respective countries. Said Hoang: "I tried my best to prepare for this Olympics because I did not win a medal at the 2004 Games. It is the first medal for a male from Vietnam and it moved me a lot."