Delight for Deng as records keep on tumbling

Rio Olympic champion Deng Wei shattered three world records en route to winning the women's 64kg category at the Asian Weightlifting Championships on Wednesday.

Deng, who set three world records in the 64kg division two months ago at the Fuzhou World Cup, had earlier tried to cool expectations of more records tumbling in Ningbo.

However, her words counted for little as she snatched 115kg for a new world-best mark by two kilos.

By lifting 137kg with her first attempt in the clean and jerk, the 26-year-old had already secured the gold medal with a total of 252kg as all of her opponents had completed their attempts.

Deng's solo show then got underway as she hoisted 142kg in her fifth attempt for a total of 257kg, breaking world records for jerk and total score by one and three kilos respectively.

"I don't think I broke my word because I just showed what I can do in training," a smiling Deng said of her pre-competition doubts that more records might fall.

"The world records are still short of human limits because they were set as world standards only last year, not the ones that our lifters have been challenging for years," she said.

"I did not think too much, and felt totally relaxed."

Kim Hyo-sim of DPR Korea claimed silver (249kg) while her compatriot Choe Hyo-sim, a silver medalist at the Rio Games, grabbed bronze (238kg).

Last year, the International Weightlifting Federation reshuffled the bodyweight categories for the sport, meaning new world records are in plentiful supply these days.

The new categorizations mean Deng has moved from 63kg to the 64kg.

She won 63kg gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics with a total of 262kg, five kilos more than her winning mark in Ningbo.

"I will try to break the world records again in my next competition," Deng said.