Ri Song Gum competes in the weightlifting women's 49kg Group A at the Hangzhou Asian Games, Sept 30, 2023. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

HANGZHOU - DPR Korean weightlifters flexed their muscles at the Hangzhou Asian Games on Saturday as they claimed both gold medals on the first day of the weightlifting competition.

Ri Song-gum of DPR Korea, who won gold medalist at the Jakarta Asian Games in the women's 48kg category, lifted 92kg in the snatch and 124kg in the clean and jerk for a total of 216kg in the women's 49kg, and set a world record-breaking performance in the clean and jerk and total, one kilo better than the previous mark, held by China's world champion Jiang Huihua.

Ri jumped with joy and punched the air in celebration. "I really appreciated that the crowd at the gymnasium inspired me a lot," said 25-year-old Ri, whose 124kg clean and jerk was pivotal for the mark.

Ri's compatriot Kang Hyong-yong stamped her superiority in the women's under-55kg category with a hat-trick of world records in snatch, clean and jerk, and combined

Jiang finished second with a total of 213kg, while Thailand's Thanyathon Sukcharoen took bronze with 199kg.

"Congratulations to the gold medalist. I'll keep on training," said Jiang.

Later, Ri's compatriot Kang Hyong-yong stamped her superiority in the women's under-55kg category with a hat-trick of world records in snatch, clean and jerk, and combined.

Kang put together lifts of 103kg and 130kg to beat the previous world's best by six kilograms.

Fellow DPRK lifter Ri Su Yon finished 11 kilograms behind with a silver.

China's Hou Zhihui, who had won the 49kg gold at the Tokyo Olympics, took the bronze with 210kg.