Weightlifting > Day by Day Recap

Germany's Matthias Steiner capped the lifting competition in Beijing with a stunning comeback on his final lift in the super heavyweight class to upset Russian clean-and-jerk world champ Evgeny Chigishev. Steiner, who trailed Chigishev by 9 kgs with one lift to go, barely flinched as he put 258 kgs over his head to the raucous approval of the crowd.

Andrei Aramnau showed why he's the reigning world champion in the 105kg class, breaking three world records and hoisting Belarus' first-ever Olympic gold in weightlifting. Dmitriy Klokov, easily the most vocal lifter in Beijing, roared to silver for Russia.

Spiky-haired Ilya Ilin stuck it to his opponents in a close battle for the men's 94kg title, using his final lift to edge Szymon Kolecki of Poland by just 3 kgs. Russia's Khadzhimurat Akkaev cruised through the B session to win bronze. Afterwards, he ripped his coach for placing him in the lower-rated B group: "My coach is a jerk."

Jang Mi-Ran decimated the field in the women's super heavyweight class, snapping a trio of world records to win South Korea's second weightlifting gold. Jang won the title by nearly 50 kgs after runner-up Olha Korobka of Ukraine, realizing she had no shot at gold, passed on her final lift.

Cao Lei got China's gold-medal party started on Day 7, breaking three Olympic marks on her way to winning the women's 75kg division. Later, Lu Yong set a world record with his final lift in the men's 85kg class as he rallied to beat double world champ Andrei Rybakou of Belarus.

On the same day that China's Liu Chunhong broke three world records to take the women's 69kg title, the host nation saw its winning streak come to an end as South Korea's Sa Jae-hyouk upset Li Hongli to snag the men's 77kg gold. Not for the squeamish: Hungarian Janos Baranyai's ugly elbow injury in the men's Group B session.

Pak Hyon Suk grabbed North Korea's first gold medal of the Games, winning the women's 63kg division with a do-or-die lift that equaled the Olympic record. China added to its total with Liao Hui winning the men's 69kg category.

China continued its weightlifting winning streak on Day 3 as Chen Yanqing broke two Olympic records en route to the women's 58kg gold and Zhang Xiangxiang took the men's 62kg title.

Seventeen-year-old Long Qingquan won China's second weightlifting gold and the first men's title in Beijing, while Prapawadee Jaroenrattanatarakoon of Thailand took the women's 53-kilogram category, setting an Olympic record.

Chen Xiexia won China's first gold medal of the Beijing Games on Day 1, setting two Olympic records as she easily outclassed her opponents in the women's 48-kilogram weight category.