China's Deng Wei dominates IWF World Cup with new world records

China continued their sparkling run at the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World Cup on Monday night. Rio Olympic champion Deng Wei swept three gold medals in snatch, clean and jerk and the total in the women's 64kg division, breaking all three of her own world records.

Deng had earlier showed her dominance at the World Championships last November, establishing world records in snatch (112kg), clean and jerk (140kg) and total (252kg), which she just broke again in her hometown of Fujian Province, southeast China.

Deng lifted 108kg at the first attempt in the snatch and sealed the victory when all the other lifters had finished their competition. Her second attempt of 113kg challenged the world record and she made a good lift, adding one more kilo to the record.

In the clean and jerk, Deng was also the last one to take to the stage. Her first attempt at 135kg helped her to collect the gold and the second lift to change the world record from 140kg to 141kg. The world record of the total increased from 252kg to 254kg.

Deng Wei makes a good lift during the match. /VGC Photo

"I can feel the pressure when I see the fans here. My first snatch attempt did not go perfectly, though the new record was created. It is actually not difficult for me to make good lifts of the current weights, and I believe I can make them better in the next world event."

Her history shows that she is not bluffing. She was crowned with the Rio Olympic title in the women's 63kg division with much better results in the snatch (115kg), the clean and jerk (147kg) and the total (262kg) in 2016.

Deng started to compete in the women's 64kg after IWF changed the division's settings last year. She has not met any opponent able to directly challenge her as of yet, and she is expected to continue to break records going forward.

China's weightlifters have broken seven world records at the World Cup since Saturday. won the women's 49kg with new records in the snatch and the total on Saturday. established new world records in the clean and jerk of the women's 59kg and the total of the men's 81kg respectively on Sunday.

(CGTN)