W59
Snatches started really well in the Women’s 59 kg A group. There were nine good lifts before Zoe Smith (GBR) missed 96 on her second attempt. Every lifter apart from Boyanka Kostova (AZE) made their openers. Sadly, Kostova went on to bomb out, missing 103 three times, looking nothing like the lifter she was a few years ago, when she snatched 112 as a 58.
The battle for snatch gold came down to Choe Hyo Sim (PRK) and Kuo Hsing-Chun (TPE), the world record holder. It was all about who made their lifts and Kuo blinked first, missing her second attempt at 106 and having to be content to hit it on her third, equalling her world record. The North Korean showed why consistency is so important by going 3/3, hitting 107 in her third attempt to claim the snatch world record and the gold here.
Clean and jerks featured just nine missed lifts from the ten athletes, three of them from Maria Lobon Viafara (COL) who bombed. Three lifters went 3/3 – Rebeka Koha (LAT) and the two front runners, Choe Hyo Sim (PRK) and Kuo Hsing-Chun (TPE).
The Taipei and Korean lifters pushed each other all the way, so it seemed inevitable that a world record clean and jerk would be required to win gold. As it turned out, even a world record was not enough. Choe hit 138 on her third attempt to set new clean and jerk and total world records. However, Kuo had a lift remaining, which she used to hit 140 to reclaim her world records and take the gold in clean and jerk and total.
Medals
| Snatch | Clean and Jerk | Total | |
| Gold | Choe Hyo Sim (PRK) – 107 | Kuo Hsing-Chun (TPE) – 140 | Kuo Hsing-Chun (TPE) – 246 |
| Silver | Kuo Hsing-Chun (TPE) – 106 | Choe Hyo Sim (PRK) – 138 | Choe Hyo Sim (PRK) – 245 |
| Bronze | Chen Guiming (CHN) – 101 | Chen Guiming (CHN) – 132 | Chen Guiming (CHN) – 233 |
New Records
- Snatch world record – Choe Hyo Sim (PRK) – 107
- Clean and jerk world record – Choe Hyo Sim (PRK) – 138 (later broken)
- Total world record – Choe Hyo Sim (PRK) – 245 (later broken)
- Clean and jerk world record – Kuo Hsing-Chun (TPE) – 140
- Total world record – Kuo Hsing-Chun (TPE) – 246
M73
This group began with even more consistency than the earlier W59 A group. Ten good lifts went in before Yuan Chengfei (CHN) missed his second snatch to put the first red on the scoreboard.
Clarence Cummings Jr (USA) had an attempt at 155 to break his own junior world snatch record but couldn’t make it.
Shi Zhiyoung (CHN), the 2016 Olympic gold medalist, waited until everyone else had finished their snatches before opening at 160. He made mincemeat out of that before hitting 163 and 166. This was two kilos below his own world record but presumably, he was planning to hit a 197 clean and jerk to extend that record and break his total record of 362 by a kilo.
Shi was last to open on clean and jerk, with 190, which he proceeded to power clean and jerk in a dismissive fashion. That gave him an ten kilo lead in the total, all but securing the overall goal medal. His coaches then wrote in a 197 clean and jerk for world record attempts.
Unlike on snatches, there were some other lifters with clean and jerks to complete between Shi’s attempts. While the clean and jerk and total golds seemed out of reach, there were a few lifters in the mix for the other medals. O Kang Chol (PRK) won that battle, hitting 3/3 on clean and jerks to take the silvers ahead of Bozhidar Andreev (BUL).
That left just Shi Zhiyong’s world record attempt to come. This time he did a full clean, completing it easily and finishing with a squat jerk to extend his records. He declined his third attempt, presumably having executed the competition exactly to plan.
Medals
| Snatch | Clean and Jerk | Total | |
| Gold | Shi Zhiyong (CHN) – 166 | Shi Zhiyong (CHN) – 197 | Shi Zhiyong (CHN) – 363 |
| Silver | Bozhidar Andreev (BUL) – 157 | O Kang Chol (PRK) – 193 | O Kang Chol (PRK) – 347 |
| Bronze | Briken Calja (ALB) – 156 | Bozhidar Andreev (BUL) – 189 | Bozhidar Andreev (BUL) – 346 |
New Records
- World clean and jerk record – Shi Zhiyong (CHN) – 197
- World total record – Shi Zhiyong (CHN) – 363
Latest Medal Table
| Gold | Silver | Bronze | |
| China | 14 | 8 | 5 |
| DPR Korea | 5 | 4 | 4 |
| Turkey | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Chinese TaiPei | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| India | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Cuba | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Indonesia | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Vietnam | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Bulgaria | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Kazakhstan | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Colombia | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Iran | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Saudi Arabia | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Uzbekistan | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Philipines | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Japan | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Albania | 0 | 0 | 1 |