Chile's Perez sweeps men's 85kg golds at weightlifting worlds

ANAHEIM, United States, Dec. 3 (Xinhua) -- Arley Mendez Perez of Chile demonstrated his supremacy in the men's 85kg category of the 2017 World Weightlifting Championships as he claimed a clean sweep of all three golds in the event on Sunday.

Perez lifted 175kg and 203kg apiece to finish first both in the snatch and clean and jerk before totaling 378kg for the overall gold. Olympic champion Kianoush Rostami of Iran lifted 162kg to finish second in the snatch but opted out of the clean and jerk competition due to a knee injury.

Without Rostami, Perez seemed to be in a class of his own in the clean and jerk with his first attempt of 203kg already helping secure the gold. His nearest challenger, Krzysztof Zwarycz from Poland, could only managed a 197kg lift.

After securing his golds in the clean and jerk, Perez tried 214kg in the second lift before trying 221kg in attempting to break the world record, but both of his attempts failed. However, he still stood on the highest place of the podium three times.

Zwarycz was 4th in the snatch but with a clean and jerk silver he came second in total with 359kg. Italian lifter Antonino Pizzolato got overall bronze with 358kg. Enditem