News

Podobedova takes gold for Kazakhstan

Svetlana Podobedova fulfilled a dream this afternoon as she won Olympic gold for Kazakhstan having seen off the threat from her two dominant Russian rivals. In a dramatic women's 75kg, Podobedova clinched gold with the final lift of the competition to deny Natalya Zabolotnaya - triumphing on bodyweight alone after the pair tied with a total of 291kg, smashing the Olympic record. Reigning world champion Nadezda Evstyukhina had earlier caused surprise when she tumbled out having failed with all three snatch attempts. Bronze went to Belarus' Iryna Kulesha, who came out with a 269kg

ZIELINSKI Adrian (POL)

Men’s 85kg “There were more Polish people in the arena than in the city where I live. It gave me a big

PODOBEDOVA Svetlana (KAZ)

Women’s 75kg “I worked hard for this win and all the effort paid

LU Xiaojun (CHN)

Men’s 77kg “I kept my confidence and belief in myself that I could do

RIM Jong Sim (PRK)

Women’s 69kg “Even when the training was tough, I did my best and trained

Lu lifts into record books

China's Lu Xiaojun got the better of injured compatriot Lu Haojie to claim gold and set new world and Olympic records in an action-packed men's 77kg Weightlifting tonight. The battle for gold and silver got off to a thrilling start as the pair exchanged 170kg attempts before Lu Haojie failed at 175kg, leaving Lu Xiaojun to succeed and beat his own world record while also setting an Olympic best. Lu Xiaojun then lifted a 204kg clean and jerk over his head and set a stunning total of 379kg, again eclipsing his own previous world achivements and taking Taner Sagir's Olympic record. Lu Haojie had previously taken to the stage to clean and jerk 190kg before passing on his next two attempts when it become clear he had sustained an arm injury, with his 360kg total still enough for silver. Cuba's Ivan Cambar Rodriguez edged a tight battle for bronze from Thailand's Chatuphum Chinnawong and Egypt's Ibrahim Ramadan