Indonesia’s Juniansyah breaks world record, upsets Abdullah in race to Olympics

PHUKET: Indonesia’s Rizki Juniansyah set a world record at weightlifting’s World Cup in Phuket on Thursday, knocking out compatriot Rahmat Erwin Abdullah, who won bronze at the Tokyo Olympics, to win a place at this year’s Paris Games.

The International Weightlifting Federation’s (IWF) official website called 20-year-old Juniansyah’s triumph at the men’s 73 kg category “one of the biggest upsets in weightlifting history”.

Juniansyah lifted 164kg in snatch and 201kg in clean and jerk to achieve a total of 365kg, breaking the previous record of 364kg set by China’s Shi Zhiyong when he won gold at the Tokyo Olympics.

“I can’t believe it, I don’t know what to think,” Juniansyah said. “I had appendix surgery about six months ago and I didn’t start training properly until January the first... I can’t take it all in. It’s crazy. I’m so proud.”