Weightlifting-North Korea's Song sets three records to take world championships gold

Oct 8 (Reuters) – North Korea's Song Kuk-hyang won her second World Weightlifting Championships gold medal with a dominant performance, lifting a record total of 270 kg to claim the women's 69 kg title in Forde, Norway, on Tuesday. Song, an Asian Games champion in 2022 at 76 kg, also set world records in both the snatch (120 kg) and clean and jerk (150 kg), bettering the previous marks of American Olympic champion Olivia Reeves. The total of 270 kg was two kilograms more than any other woman in history and 29 kg more than Colombian silver medallist Julieth Rodriguez could manage to lift. Song's win also capped a clean sweep of the women's golds for North Korea at the tournament. "We expected very good results here and we got them, especially from the women," team coach Kim Chun Hui said. North Korea's women have been in red-hot form since their return to international competition in 2023 after a lengthy break due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Kim Coghill)

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