Chinese veteran Lyu Xiaojun becomes oldest weightlifter at 37 to win Olympic gold

TOKYO: Chinese veteran Lyu Xiaojun made history on Saturday by becoming the oldest weightlifter to win an Olympic Games gold medal when at 37 he bagged the men's 81kg category along with three new Olympic records.

Lyu, who turned 37 on Tuesday, broke the record of Rudolf Plukfelder of the Soviet Union, who was 36 years old when he won gold in 1964 in Tokyo, reports Xinhua.

Zacarias Bonnat Michel of the Dominican Republic bagged a silver with 367kg. Italian Antonino Pizzolato nabbed a bronze with 365kg.

Having taken up weightlifting in 1998, Lyu said the past two decades were all about his love for the sport.

"I liked weightlifting at a young age, but now it's my love. This is why I will carry on until I'm 37 years old, or even 40," Lyu told a press conference.

Despite failing on his first snatch attempt at 165kg, Lyu eventually regrouped himself to lift a new Olympic record of 170kg in the snatch. IANS

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