Rio 2016 weightlifting review: records tumbled over 10 days of top-class competition
Multiple records were broken at Riocentro during the Olympic Games
Oscar Albeiro Figueroa Mosquera became the first male Colombian to win an Olympic gold when he competed in the men's 62kg event (Getty Images/Pool)
The Rio 2016 Olympic Games weightlifting tournament wrapped up on Tuesday with Georgian Lasha Talakhadze taking the blue riband men's +105 in an enthralling heavyweight contest in which three world and Olympic records were set.
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A remarkable 10-day, 15-category tournament featured eight world and 13 Olympic records and finished with weightlifting powerhouse China heading the medal table to match their London 2012 haul of five gold and two silver medals.
Meng Suping's victory in the +75kg women's event on Sunday also ensured China came top in the weightlifting medals table for the fifth successive Olympic Games.
Meng Suping of China won gold in the +75kg women's event on Sunday. (Getty Images/Laurence Griffiths)
With 10 athletes entered in as many events, China always had a mandate to do well. But its cause was not helped by the pre-Games withdrawal of women's 48kg hope Hou Zhihui due to injury, and the mid-contest retirement of another red hot gold medal chance Chen Lijun, who suffered leg cramps during the men's 62kg.
Thailand's Sopita Tanasan and Sukanya Srisurat were stars of the first week, with victories in the women's 48kg and women's 58kg respectively to propel their nation to second in the medal standings, while Iran were third with two golds.
DPR Korea won four medals to finish fourth in the rankings, but Rim Jong Sim was their only gold medallist after she won the women's 75kg.
One world and four Olympic weightlifting records were consigned to the history books when Chinese Taipei and China shared the spoils respectively in the women's 53kg and men's 56kg as Sunday 7 August became a day to remember.
In the women's event, Olympic Gaemes debutant Hsu Shu-Ching set a snatch Olympic record of 101kg on her way to becoming the first weightlifter from Chinese Taipei to win gold. China's Long Qingguan had a record-smashing derby with Om Yun Chol of Chinese Taipei in the 56kg in which the pair broke three Olympic records before Long had the final say with a world record total of 307kg. Om took silver.
Hsu Shu-Ching set an Olympic record of 101kg in the women's 53kg, and became the first weightlifter from Chinese Taipei to win a gold medal. (Getty Images/Lars Baron)
¡Vamos Colombia!
Other firsts during the tournament included Oscar Albeiro Figueroa Mosquera becoming the first male Colombian to win an Olympic gold when he competed in the men's 62kg event, 18-year-old Sara Ahmed winning bronze in the women's 69kg to become the first Egyptian woman to win an Olympic weightlifting medal, and Spain's Lidia Valentin Perez giving her nation the same with bronze in the women's 75kg.
Ruslan Nurudinov also won the first Olympic medal for Uzbekistan in weightlifting with gold in the men's 105kg event on Monday, as large and enthusiastic crowds cheered the 260-plus weightlifters who participated in the tournament at Riocentro Pavilion 2.
