Published: 16:06, July 24, 2021 | Updated: 16:06, July 24, 2021
China's Hou wins 49-kg weightlifting gold
By Reuters

(From left to right) Silver medallist India's Chanu Saikhom Mirabai, gold medallist China's Hou Zhihui and bronze medallist Indonesia's Windy Cantika Aisah stand on the podium for the victory ceremony of the women's 49kg weightlifting competition during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Tokyo International Forum in Tokyo on July 24, 2021. (VINCENZO PINTO / AFP)

TOKYO - China's Zhihui Hou won the gold medal in women's 49-kg weightlifting at the Tokyo Olympics, bagging the second gold for China in as many competitions, with a comfortable win over Indian and Indonesian medalists.

Earlier, China's Yang Qian had claimed the first gold medal of the Tokyo Olympics in the women's 10-metre rifle competition

Hou broke the Olympic records in all three categories of snatch, clean and jerk, and total with 210 kg, three kilos short of her own world record. She also holds the world record with 96 kg in snatch, which she didn't attempt in Tokyo.

Mirabai Chanu, India's only athlete in weightlifting, took home the silver medal. Chanu still holds the world record in clean and jerk of 119 kg.

In Rio 2016, Chanu was one of two athletes in her category who didn't register a total, after failing all three of her clean and jerk attempts.

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Nineteen-year-old Indonesian lifter Windy Cantika Aisah clinched the bronze medal with 194 kg in total.

Making her Olympic debut, medal hopeful US lifter Jourdan Delacruz failed all three attempts at clean and jerk. Japan's veteran lifter Hiromi Miyake also failed similarly, and both failed to register a total.

There are two Olympic lifts: the clean and jerk, and the snatch. Each athlete is allowed three attempts at each lift. The best lift in each is combined to determine the overall total. Athletes must successfully attempt the snatch before proceeding to the clean and jerk.

Earlier on Saturday, China's Yang Qian had claimed the first gold medal of the Tokyo Olympics in the women's 10-metre rifle competition.