Weightlifters broke 231 records at the 20th Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, including 47 world records. In several categories the world record changed hands more than once in a single competition.
The weightlifting competition ran from 23 to 29 September at the Nagoya City Trade and Industry Center. A total of 149 athletes from 31 National Olympic Committees competed in 16 bodyweight categories, eight for men and eight for women.
New records were set in 14 of the 16 categories. Only the women’s 77kg and 86kg ended without one. The competition was also extremely close: five of the 16 gold medals were decided by a single kilogram.
Records at a glance
In total, 231 records were broken: 143 in the men’s categories and 88 in the women’s. They came from 112 lifts, because a single lift often sets several records at once. A new world record, for example, is also a new Asian record and a new Asian Games record.
Record type | Men | Women | Total |
World record (WR) | 29 | 18 | 47 |
Asian record (AR) | 37 | 19 | 56 |
Asian Games record (GR) | 69 | 37 | 106 |
Junior world record (JWR) | 4 | 7 | 11 |
Junior Asian record (JAR) | 4 | 7 | 11 |
Total | 143 | 88 | 231 |
The 112 record-breaking lifts were made by 31 athletes from 13 NOCs. By lift, 73 records were set in the snatch, 66 in the clean & jerk and 92 in the total. World records came from 17 athletes representing nine NOCs. By the end of the competition, 25 world records set in Nagoya were still standing.
Men’s 70kg, 75kg and 85kg: world records traded lift by lift
These three categories produced 38 record lifts between them, 24 of them world records.
Men’s 70kg. Masanori Miyamoto of Japan set a snatch world record of 154kg. In the clean & jerk, he and Ri Won Ju of DPR Korea took turns holding the world record total, which rose from 337kg to 338kg, then 342kg and 343kg. Ri made all three of his clean & jerks: 187kg, 192kg and 198kg. The last two were world records, and they gave him gold with a world record total of 349kg. Miyamoto took silver with 342kg. Albert Ian Delos Santos of the Philippines won bronze with 324kg and set junior world and Asian records in the clean & jerk (183kg) and the total.
Men’s 75kg. This was the record-breaking peak of the week, with 11 world record lifts in one category. Ri Chong Song of DPR Korea and Weeraphon Wichuma of Thailand both broke the snatch world record, and Ri finished with 162kg. In the clean & jerk, Wichuma and Rahmat Erwin Abdullah of Indonesia exchanged the world record four times: 200kg, 201kg, 205kg and 206kg. Abdullah’s 206kg won gold with a world record total of 366kg, just 1kg ahead of Wichuma on 365kg. Ri took bronze with 357kg, which had been a world record total earlier in the contest.
Men’s 85kg. Alexey Churkin of Kazakhstan set a world record of 173kg in the snatch and held the world record total for a time at 378kg. Chen Shunnan of China made all three clean & jerks and finished with a world record of 211kg. Ro Kwang Ryol of DPR Korea missed 214kg on his second attempt, then made it on his third. The lift was a world record and gave him gold with a world record total of 379kg, again by 1kg. Churkin won silver and Chen bronze with 374kg.
The other men’s categories
Men’s 60kg. Yang Yang of China made all six of his attempts and won with an Asian Games record total of 304kg. The clean & jerk Games record changed three times in the same contest: Pang Un Chol of DPR Korea lifted 170kg, Theerapong Silachai of Thailand 173kg, and Pang 174kg. Pang won silver with 301kg and Silachai bronze with 299kg.
Men’s 65kg. He Yueji of China broke the snatch world record twice, with 149kg and then 152kg. Pak Myong Jin of DPR Korea answered in the clean & jerk with Games records of 178kg and 182kg. Pak won gold with a Games record total of 328kg, 1kg ahead of He.
Men’s 95kg. Ali Alipour of IR Iran set an Asian record of 180kg in the snatch. He and Nurgissa Adiletuly of Kazakhstan then traded the total record, from 387kg to 393kg to 394kg. Alipour missed 218kg in the clean & jerk on his second attempt and made it on his third. That gave him gold with a world record total of 398kg. Adiletuly took silver with 394kg.
Men’s 110kg. Akbar Djuraev of Uzbekistan improved the snatch Games record three times, with 190kg, 195kg and finally a world record of 197kg. Shahzadbek Matyakubov of Turkmenistan had set a Games record total of 410kg, but Djuraev needed only one clean & jerk. His opening 226kg was a Games record and gave him gold with a Games record total of 423kg.
Men’s +110kg. Ali Ammar Yusur Rubaiawi of Iraq dominated the snatch with 210kg, an Asian record of 215kg and a world record of 219kg. His 246kg clean & jerk then gave him an Asian record total of 465kg. Ali Davoudi of IR Iran replied with clean & jerk Games records of 242kg and 260kg. The 260kg won him gold with an Asian record total of 466kg, 1kg ahead of Rubaiawi.
Women’s categories: DPR Korea sets the pace
DPR Korea won four of the eight women’s titles, and each of its champions broke records on the way.
Women’s 49kg. Ri Song Gum set world records in all three results: 94kg in the snatch, 121kg in the clean & jerk and 215kg in total. She did not take her third attempt in either lift. Mirabai Chanu of India won silver with 198kg.
Women’s 53kg. Kang Hyon Gyong made all six attempts and set five Asian Games records: 97kg and 99kg in the snatch, 124kg in the clean & jerk, and totals of 221kg and 223kg.
Women’s 57kg. Oh Kwang Ok made seven record lifts, the joint highest of the Games with Yang Liuyue, and five of them were world records. She made all six attempts, finishing with a 104kg snatch, a 134kg clean & jerk and a world record total of 238kg. Her winning margin was 19kg.
Women’s 61kg. This was the closest of the women’s record battles. Yang Liuyue of China, aged 19, broke the snatch world record twice with 110kg and 112kg; Pak Jin Hae of DPR Korea had set it at 109kg just before. Kuo Hsing-chun of Chinese Taipei also set an Asian record of 107kg. In the clean & jerk, Pak lifted a world record 139kg for a world record total of 248kg. Yang then made the same 139kg on her final attempt. Because it equalled Pak’s mark, it counted as a junior world and Asian record, and it gave Yang gold with a world record total of 251kg. Pak took silver and Kuo bronze.
Women’s 69kg. Song Kuk Hyang set a snatch world record of 121kg. She then jumped 12kg between her first and second clean & jerks, from 140kg to a world record 152kg. Her world record total of 273kg won gold by 41kg, the widest margin of the Games.
Women’s +86kg. Li Wenwen of China and Park Hyejeong of Korea traded the snatch Games record five times: 130kg, 132kg, 133kg, 136kg and 140kg. Li finished with the last two and won with a Games record total of 310kg. Park took silver with 300kg.
The women’s 77kg and 86kg were the only categories without a record. Both were won by China: He Renxiu with 258kg in the 77kg, and Wu Yan with 273kg in the 86kg, 1kg ahead of Alina Marushchak of Bahrain.
World records set in Nagoya and still standing
These 25 world records were set in Nagoya and still stood when the competition ended. Each is the highest world record lift in its category and discipline.
Category | Lift | Record | Athlete | NOC |
Men’s 65kg | Snatch | 152kg | He Yueji | CHN |
Men’s 70kg | Snatch | 154kg | Masanori Miyamoto | JPN |
Men’s 70kg | Clean & jerk | 198kg | Ri Won Ju | PRK |
Men’s 70kg | Total | 349kg | Ri Won Ju | PRK |
Men’s 75kg | Snatch | 162kg | Ri Chong Song | PRK |
Men’s 75kg | Clean & jerk | 206kg | Rahmat Erwin Abdullah | INA |
Men’s 75kg | Total | 366kg | Rahmat Erwin Abdullah | INA |
Men’s 85kg | Snatch | 173kg | Alexey Churkin | KAZ |
Men’s 85kg | Clean & jerk | 214kg | Ro Kwang Ryol | PRK |
Men’s 85kg | Total | 379kg | Ro Kwang Ryol | PRK |
Men’s 95kg | Total | 398kg | Ali Alipour | IRI |
Men’s 110kg | Snatch | 197kg | Akbar Djuraev | UZB |
Men’s +110kg | Snatch | 219kg | Ali Ammar Yusur Rubaiawi | IRQ |
Women’s 49kg | Snatch | 94kg | Ri Song Gum | PRK |
Women’s 49kg | Clean & jerk | 121kg | Ri Song Gum | PRK |
Women’s 49kg | Total | 215kg | Ri Song Gum | PRK |
Women’s 57kg | Snatch | 104kg | Oh Kwang Ok | PRK |
Women’s 57kg | Clean & jerk | 134kg | Oh Kwang Ok | PRK |
Women’s 57kg | Total | 238kg | Oh Kwang Ok | PRK |
Women’s 61kg | Snatch | 112kg | Yang Liuyue | CHN |
Women’s 61kg | Clean & jerk | 139kg | Pak Jin Hae | PRK |
Women’s 61kg | Total | 251kg | Yang Liuyue | CHN |
Women’s 69kg | Snatch | 121kg | Song Kuk Hyang | PRK |
Women’s 69kg | Clean & jerk | 152kg | Song Kuk Hyang | PRK |
Women’s 69kg | Total | 273kg | Song Kuk Hyang | PRK |
Records by nation
DPR Korea led the record count with 89 records, 23 of them world records. China followed with 46, including seven world records. Thailand’s five world records all came from Weeraphon Wichuma, and all four of Indonesia’s came from Rahmat Erwin Abdullah.
Thailand broke 16 records, Kazakhstan 14, Indonesia and IR Iran 12 each, Japan 11 and Iraq 10. The Philippines followed with eight, Uzbekistan with seven, Chinese Taipei with three, Korea with two and Turkmenistan with one.
The medal table followed a similar pattern. DPR Korea finished top with 7 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze. China was second with 5 gold, 2 silver and 3 bronze, and IR Iran third with 2 gold and 2 bronze. In all, 17 NOCs won medals and five of them won gold.
The competition in numbers
Of the 149 athletes who started, 136 finished with a total.
Men | Women | All | |
Athletes | 78 | 71 | 149 |
NOCs represented | 28 | 23 | 31 |
Finished with a total | 66 | 70 | 136 |
No total | 12 | 1 | 13 |
Average age (years) | 24.6 | 24.1 | 24.3 |
Attempts taken | 435 | 412 | 847 |
Good lifts | 257 | 295 | 552 |
No-lifts | 178 | 117 | 295 |
Success rate | 59.1% | 71.6% | 65.2% |
Age
The average age of all athletes was 24.3, and the median was 24. Medallists averaged 24.1 years and champions 24.4, with the youngest champion aged 19 and the oldest 28.
The youngest athlete was Bolor-od Lkhagvajav of Mongolia, aged 14, who finished fifth in the women’s 77kg. The oldest was Eko Yuli Irawan of Indonesia, aged 37, who placed fourth in the men’s 65kg.
Twenty-one athletes were born in 2006 or later, and five of them won medals. Yang Liuyue of China won gold in the women’s 61kg at 19, and Ayanat Zhumagali of Kazakhstan took silver in the women’s 77kg, also at 19. Albert Ian Delos Santos of the Philippines (men’s 70kg) and Ingrid Grueso of Bahrain (women’s 69kg) won bronze at 20. Mahsa Beheshty of IR Iran won bronze in the women’s 86kg at 17.
Good lifts and no-lifts
Athletes took 847 attempts and 552 of them were good, a success rate of 65.2%. The snatch was more reliable than the clean & jerk: 69.0% of snatches were good, against 61.0% of clean & jerks. Medallists made 75.9% of their attempts.
Success fell with each attempt as the weights rose:
Attempt | Snatch | Clean & jerk |
First | 77.9% | 76.4% |
Second | 72.8% | 64.0% |
Third | 56.2% | 41.1% |
The women’s 77kg had the highest success rate at 78.6%, and the men’s 65kg the lowest at 45.0%.
Nine athletes made all six attempts: champions Yang Yang (CHN), Kang Hyon Gyong (PRK) and Oh Kwang Ok (PRK), silver medallists Ayanat Zhumagali (KAZ) and Alina Marushchak (BRN), and Gantsooj Sumiya (MGL), Ryunosuke Mochida (JPN), Mst Bristy (BAN) and Nozomi Abe (JPN).
Thirteen athletes finished without a total. Eight missed all three snatches and five missed all three clean & jerks. All but one of them were men.
