China sweeps weightlifting worlds with multiple records

Deng Wei of China shows her gold medals after the women's weightlifting 64kg event at the 2019 World Weightlifting Championships held at Pattaya, Thailand, Sept. 22, 2019. (Xinhua/Zhang Keren)

PATTAYA, Thailand, Sept. 22 -- China won all the six gold medals in the men's 81kg and the women's 64kg categories with new world records at the 2019 International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World Championships here on Sunday.

In the men's 81kg category, Chinese athletes Lyu Xiaojun and Li Dayin dominated the competition by winning all the golds and silvers. In the snatch, although Lyu failed at the first attempt, he successfully made two firm lifts and won the gold medal on 171kg. His teammate Li finished second with the same weight from the third attempt following Lyu. Andranik Karapetyan of Armenia took the bronze with a good lift of 168kg at the first attempt.

Lyu maintained his advantage in clean and jerk as the athlete set a new world record of 207kg at the third attempt. Li won the silver with one kilogram less than Lyu while Yunder Nedim Beytula of Bulgaria took the bronze on 201kg.

With smashing advantages, Lyu won the gold medal with the total in the men's 81kg division on 378kg and Li took the silver with 377kg, both breaking Li's former world record of 375kg. The home of the bronze was revised by the referees to go to Colombia's Brayan Santiago Rodallegas Carvajal on 363kg in total.

In the women's 64kg division, China's Deng Wei won all the three gold medals with three new world records. She made all three good lifts in snatch and won the gold on 116kg, setting her own world record by one kilogram. Rim Un Sim of DPR Korea took the silver on 114kg and Loredana-Elena Toma of Romania won the bronze with a good lift of 112kg at the second attempt.

Deng continued to enlarge her lead in clean and jerk with three good lifts. With a good lift of 145kg, she broke her own world of 142kg in clean and jerk. Rim took the silver on 137kg while Mercedes Tigrero of Colombia won the bronze on 132kg.

Deng's result of 261kg beat her own world record of total by four kilograms. Rim claimed the silver with 251kg and the bronze went to Toma on 240kg.

The 10-day championships, running through September 27, also serves as qualifiers for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.