Chinese powerlifter Tan breaks own world record to win gold in Rio

Chinese powerlifter Tan Yujiao set a new world record to win the women's -67kg Group A title at the Rio Paralympics on Sunday.

Tan lifted 138.5kg with her final attempt to beat the record of 138kg she set in Hungary last year.

Kazakhstan's Raushan Koishibayeva took silver with 113kg and Egypt's Amal Mahmoud bronze with 108kg.

"I didn't really think of how all the others would perform or what they're doing," Tan told the Paralympic News Service. "I just focus on myself because I think this sport is where you compete against yourself, the only one I have to defeat is myself."

"The training is like a daily routine so it is really hard to keep going but I still take a shine to it and I have determination. That's how I come to this level and I'm happy about that."

Tan, who was born with one leg longer than the other, was a silver medalist at the London 2012 Games.

She said she had improved immeasurably over the past four years.

"I was 22 years old back then and I've learned a lot of different things since so it is not like the old times," she said.

"It really comes down to being more mature and having more determination. I think the most important thing was my passion for this sport." Endit