Olympics-Weightlifting- Indonesian lifter matches Olympic record in surprise session

By Ece Toksabay and Junko Fujita

TOKYO (Reuters) - Indonesia's Rahmat Erwin Abdullah matched the Olympic record by lifting 190kg in clean&jerk at Tokyo 2020, in a surprise early session where athletes with lower weight entries compete.

Abdullah, who was only selected to represent Asia along with China, Japan, and South Korea in the Tokyo Olympics last month, told Reuters that the lift was "easy."

"190 was pretty easy. I wanted to try 195, and maybe even 200 in my last attempt, but I have an injury in my right thigh," a jubilant Abdullah said.

Speaking at the Tokyo International Forum, the men's 73kg lifter, who snatched 152, registering a total 342, said he was excited to see if it would be enough to secure a medal when the next session pans out.

"Due to the pandemic, I have been living in the training compound for almost 18 months. I eat and sleep and train in the same venue. I hope my efforts will result in a medal today."

Weightlifting competitions are made of two sessions, Group A and Group B, on the same day. Group B sessions take place earlier and feature athletes who have registered lighter weights.

The Group A session will host world record holder Zhiyong Shi from China. He holds the record in all three categories, the snatch, the clean&jerk and the total, with 169kg, 198kg and 363kg, respectively.

(Writing by Ece Toksabay; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)