(Reuters) – Indonesia’s Rizki Juniansyah set a world record at weightlifting’s World Cup in Phuket on Thursday, knocking out compatriot Rahmat Erwin Abdullah, who won bronze at the Tokyo Olympics, to win a place at this year’s Paris Games.
The International Weightlifting Federation’s (IWF) official website called 20-year-old Juniansyah’s triumph at the men’s 73 kg category “one of the biggest upsets in weightlifting history”.
Juniansyah lifted 164kg in snatch and 201kg in clean and jerk to achieve a total of 365kg, breaking the previous record of 364kg set by China’s Shi Zhiyong when he won gold at the Tokyo Olympics.
“I can’t believe it, I don’t know what to think,” Juniansyah said.
“I had appendix surgery about six months ago and I didn’t start training properly until January the first… I can’t take it all in. It’s crazy. I’m so proud.”
Abdullah lifted 165kg in snatch and 195kg in clean and jerk, finishing with a total of 355kg and losing Indonesia’s sole Olympic berth in the weight category to Juniansyah.
Shi also qualified for the Paris Games to defend his gold medal, lifting 165kg in snatch and 191kg in clean and jerk to finish second with a total of 356kg.
(Reporting by Chiranjit Ojha in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
