Chinese weightlifters break world records to dominate IWF World Cup

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Chinese weightlifters Chen Guiming and Li Dayin established new world records to win gold medals in the women's 59kg and men's 81kg divisions respectively at the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World Cup in Fuzhou, southeast China's Fujian Province on Sunday.

The 25-year-old Chen won first place in the clean and jerk (136kg) and the total (234kg) of women's 59kg division.

Chen, silver medalist of the World Championships last year, had a good start by lifting 98kg in the first attempt in the snatch, before failing on the following two attempts to challenge 102kg.

In the clean and jerk, Chen lifted up all three attempts and the third lift of 136kg, breaking her own world record and added two more kilos to the record.

Even with her new record, Chen doesn't seem satisfied. "I'm not feeling good about my snatch. There are lots of things to be improved. I lost two attempts and it is my weak point," said Chen.

"I'm a bit stronger in the clean and jerk. I made all the good lifts. I tried 4 more kilos to challenge 136kg, a new world record. I did not feel any pressure because I did it before in the training. And I'm expecting myself to do better to achieve new records in the future."

In men's 81kg division, Li Dayin, bronze medal winner of last year's World Championships, bagged three golds of the snatch (171kg), the clean and jerk (204kg) and the total (375kg), which is one kilo more than the world record.

The 23-year-old Jiang Bin won second place in the snatch and won the fourth rankings in the clean and jerk and the total.

"I feel good about every move I took today. I was very much expecting to make good lifts in all the attempts but I lost the second lift in the snatch, which was a pity. But I did not hesitate to put more weight to the third attempt and I had a good finish," Li said.

The women's 55kg competition was carried on between two Chinese lifters - Li Yajun, bronze medalist of the total in the World Championships last year, and Liao Qiuyun. Li posted 96kg in the first attempt and grabbed the gold of the snatch. The 24-year-old Liao finished 125kg in the clean and jerk to collect the golds of the clean and jerk and the total.

In men's 73kg division, the 21-year-old Chinese lifter Wei Yinting swept three golds of the snatch (162kg), the clean and jerk (189kg) and the total (351kg) on his IWF debut. The 24-year-old Yuan Chengfei won the bronze with 151kg in the snatch, bagging two silvers of the clean and jerk (188kg) and the total 339kg.

The six-day event that started on February 22 also serves as the qualifiers for the 2022 Tokyo Olympic Games.

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency