On November 5, the women's 77kg competition at the 2026 World Weightlifting Championships was held at the Ningbo Olympic Sports Center. The two Chinese female athletes performed well. Yang Qiuxia won two gold medals with a clean and jerk of 145 kg and a total score of 265 kg. Peng Cuiting set a new snatch world record with 126 kg, winning a gold medal in the snatch and a silver medal in the total score.
The scene of the award ceremony. Photo provided by the organizing committee
The 77kg category is a new level established by the International Weightlifting Federation. Previously, the three world records were set by American Olivia Rivers at the 2025 Ford World Championships in Norway, namely 123 kg in snatch, 155 kg in clean and jerk, and a total score of 278 kg.
This time, the two Chinese "post-00s" young players are competing across levels. Yang Qiuxia won the snatch gold medal in the women's 71kg category at the 2024 World Championships. After rising to the 77kg category in the new cycle, she won three silver medals at the National Championships in April this year. Peng Cuiting is good at snatching. In the women's 81kg competition at the 15th National Games, she won the overall gold medal and broke the national snatch record with 128kg.
On the same day, the snatch competition started first. Yang Qiuxia successfully lifted 117 kilograms in the first lift; but failed in the second lift of 120 kilograms. After a short adjustment, she competed with the same weight again in the third place. The barbell was firmly over the top, and she secured the silver medal in the snatch with 120 kg.
Another Chinese player, Peng Cuiting, was in hot form and finished the opening 121kg steadily. In the second lift, she increased the weight to 124 kilograms, challenging the snatch world record and succeeding in one fell swoop. In the last lift, Peng Cuiting directly asked for 126 kilograms - she cheered herself loudly before the trial lift, then raised the bell, turned her wrists, and went up in one go, winning the new world record and the snatch gold medal.
Entering the clean and jerk section, the competition becomes more intense. Peng Cuiting successively succeeded in 130kg, 134kg and 136kg, ranking eighth in the clean and jerk. With her amazing performance in the snatch section, she finally won the silver medal with a total score of 262 kg.
Yang Qiuxia successfully lifted 138kg and 143kg in the first two lifts. At this time, the Egyptian athlete, who had failed in the first two lifts, succeeded in the last lift of 144 kilograms, temporarily ranking first in the snatch. The "big-hearted" Yang Qiuxia withstood the pressure and successfully completed 145 kilograms in the last round, winning the clean and jerk and total score gold medals with 265 kilograms.
Yang Qiuxia in the competition. Photo provided by the organizing committee
"My long-standing wish is to break the world record. In fact, I have reached this level in training, but I have not really achieved this goal until today." After the game, Peng Cuiting said excitedly that this is the first time in 31 years that the World Weightlifting Championships will be held in China. In addition, many spectators have been cheering for the Chinese team, which made her particularly excited during the game.
Yang Qiuxia also showed youthful vitality. "As the host, we need to show our passion on the court." She admitted that she was a little nervous during the home game, which led to her failure in the second snatch, but she quickly adjusted, "The best is when you can play your best."
After the game, the two also hugged each other warmly.
"We are good friends off the court and comrades fighting side by side on the court. Our goal is to keep the gold medal in China." Peng Cuiting said.
According to the Los Angeles Olympic qualification rules issued by the International Weightlifting Federation, after all 10 Olympic qualifying rounds are completed, one male and one female "best athlete" from all Olympic levels will be selected to go directly to Los Angeles. These two athletes will no longer occupy the full 6-person Olympic seats in each team. (over)
