Russia wins two gold at last day of Weightlifting worlds

Russian weightlifter Aleksei Lovchev took the title of "the strongest man in the world" with a breathtaking victory in the men's +105kg division at the world championships on Saturday.

   A couple of hours later the there was more glory for Russia when Tatiana Kashirina won the women's +75kg world title for the third year in a row, according the official website of IWF.

   Lovchev went up 16kg from his second lift to his last in the clean & jerk when he was assured of a clean sweep of golds.

   Lovchev had never lifted more than 257kg in training and he had to lift 264kg to beat Iranian Hossein Rezazadeh's clean & jerk and total world records, which had stood for 11 and 15 years respectively. He made it, to huge cheers from a large crowd who rose to their feet.

   "I was thinking 'This is impossible,' as I had never tried that weight before," said Lovchev, 26. "I'm overwhelmed.

   "This shows that Russia is the strongest nation. I could never have done it without the support of my parents. My father is my coach and he introduced me to weightlifting. My mother passed away in 2012 and I dedicate this victory and the records to her.

   "When I was little I used to watch Rezazadeh on television, lifting enormous weights. He was an example to me and I never imagined I would one day take his records."

   In the snatch, Lovchev hoisted 211kg ahead of Lasha Talakhadze (Georgia) on 207kg and Gor Minasyan (Armenia) on 203kg. Talakhadze ranked third in the clean and jerk and second overall of 454kg.

   Mart Seim of Estonia finished second in the clean & jerk on 248kg and third overall with 438kg.

   In the final event of the championships, the women's +75kg, Kashirina started when everybody else had just about finished in the snatch. There was one lift remaining, for China's Meng Suping, when Kashirina came in at 143kg. She finished on 148, clear of Meng and Thailand's Chitchanok Pulsabsakul.

   Kashirina weighed in at 108kg, up 2kg on her weight in Almaty last year, where she finished 28kg clear of Meng.

   This time it was closer as Kashirina made only one of her clean & jerk attempts, at 185kg eight short of her own record but it was enough for a clean sweep of golds. Her 333kg total left her 8kg clear of Meng again. DPR Korea's Kim Kuk Hyang, fifth in the snatch, was a long way back in third place, on 296kg.  Endi