Shi Zhiyong of China (C), Daniyar Ismayilov of Turkey (L) and Izzat Artykov of Kyrgyzstan celebrate at the awarding ceremony of the men's 69KG weightlifting group A final at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Aug. 9, 2016. Shi Zhiyong won the gold medal with 352KG. (Xinhua/Cheng Min)
Winning the men's 69kg weightlifting gold, Shi Zhiyong felt grateful to his opponents for providing an intense competition on Tuesday.
Shi, winner at the world championships in 2015, snatched 162kg and jerked 190kg with a winning total of 352kg. The 22-year-old challenged his compatriot Liao Hui's total world record of 359kg in his last attempt by jerking 198kg, but failed.
"I didn't expect the competition would be so intense. This gold medal was so hard to win," Shi said.
European champion Daniyar Ismayilov of Turkey claimed the silver at 351kg as he took the lead in the snatch but could not keep the momentum in the jerk. Izzat Artykov of Kazakhstan also tried to beat Shi by a stunning lift attempt but failed.
"I want to thank my opponents for an intense competition. They made the 69kg category event unpredictable and more interesting," Shi said.
"I really want to break the world record, though I've never lifted 198kg in my training," said Shi.
