At the ongoing IWF weightlifting World Championships in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, China's Yang Zhe won the 109 kilogram class gold in snatch to break a long-standing jinx for his country. Incidentally, China has not won gold since the 1998 worlds in the men's heaviest divisions.
Yang's best results at the worlds was fourth in 2016 in the 105kg division. In the new 109 kilo category, Yang won the first gold in the snatch when the 27-year-old hoisted 196kg.
Simon Martirosyan of Armenia appeared to have lifted 197 kilos, which had broken the world record, but two referees red-flagged his lift due to a curve in his arm. As a result of that he ended up winning the silver medal for 195kg.
In the clean and jerk category, Yang hefted 223 kilos for a 419kg total to earn silver overall.
Yang Zhe of China competes during the Men's 105kg Group A Weightlifting contest at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. / VCG Photo
Martirosyan dominated the field with lifts of 230kg and then 240kg to set back-to-back world records. He also set a world record total of 435kg to win the two coveted gold medals.
After his emphatic win, a jubilant Yang mentioned, “I think this is one of my best performances so far on the world stage as I was able to adjust on each lift.”
“Last time in the world championships, I felt a lot of pressure and could not show my real ability. I think in the near future, the snatch world record will be mine,” he added.
Meanwhile, in the women's 87kg category, China's Ao Hui and Kim Un Ju of the DPRK battled for the first place. Ao, the junior and Asian champion in 2015, hefted 117 kilos to win gold in the snatch, beating Kim by six kilograms.
Their duel continued in the clean and jerk category as well with Ao lifting 151kg to take the lead. But in the end, Kim claimed the gold by hoisting 152kg. Eventually, Ao won a second gold medal with the highest total of 268kg while the DPRK lifter came second with 263kg.