Rio 2016 weightlifting action is due to resume on Friday (August 12) with the men’s 85kg and women’s 75kg competitions scheduled to take place.
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Earlier on Wednesday, China’s Xiang Yanmei shrugged off an unexpected neck injury in the snatch to win gold with a total of 261kg in the women’s 69kg category.
Xiang was already the favorite for gold in the women’s 69kg weightlifting class when she dropped the bar on her third attempt in the snatch, and it delivered a glancing blow to her head on the way down.
Nijat Rahimov took out gold in the men’s 77kg weightlifting at the Rio Olympics, breaking a world record in the process. “There was a chance Kazakhstan would not be allowed to compete in these Olympic Games”, Rahimov said.
His victory ensured Kazakhstan’s first gold medal of Rio 2016 and in a sport that at one stage the country looked as though it could be barred from.
However the International Olympic Committee was unable to complete re-testing of samples from the Beijing and London Games in time, freeing Kazakhstan to compete. The 18-year-old is also Egypt’s first female medalist in its 104-year history at the Olympics.
Rahimov obliterated the longstanding 77kg clean & jerk record – set almost 16 years ago by Russia’s Oleg Perepetchenov – by a full four kilograms on his second attempt (he passed on his third, victory and a new record already secured).
His total was the same as Lyu’s but the Kazakh won by virtue of being lighter – he weighs 76.19kg, Lyu 76.83kg.
That gave him a total of 379, equal with Lyu.
Rahimov repeatedly dodged questions about his doping past after the win, crediting religion and a tough training schedule for his success.
She added Olympic gold to the world titles she won in 2013 and 2015, and continued a resurgence for China’s lifters in Rio following a slow start.
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Bronze went to Egyptian Mohamed Mahmoud on 361.
