Younes wins the 85 kg world title in Ningbo
· BehindLines newsroom
Abdelrahman Younes won the men’s 85 kg weightlifting world title in Ningbo, China, on the seventh day of the championships. With a total of 390 kg, the Egyptian set a world record and took gold in the combined standings.
He built the result with a 177 kg snatch, good for silver in that lift, and a 213 kg clean and jerk, good for bronze. He therefore did not lead either lift on its own; it was the sum of the two that put him in first place.
Colombia’s López had posted a 178 kg snatch, also a world record. His total stopped at 387 kg, behind Younes, after a final clean and jerk attempt at 213 kg was missed. China’s Lei Jiangqing completed the podium with 382 kg and took silver in the clean and jerk with 214 kg.
The margins explain this outcome. In the snatch, Younes was one kilogram behind López (177 against 178 kg), and bronze in that lift went to Moldova’s Marin Robu with 176 kg. In the clean and jerk, he lifted 213 kg against 214 kg for Lei and 215 kg for Ro, one and two kilograms less. The arithmetic supplies the rest: López’s 387 kg total implies a 209 kg clean and jerk, and Lei’s 382 kg implies a 168 kg snatch. Younes won by three kilograms over López, and his total sits eleven kilograms above the earlier benchmark of 379 kg. Consistency across both lifts therefore counted for more than a single isolated performance.
North Korea’s Ro Kwang Ryol set a world record in the clean and jerk with 215 kg, yet he finished fifth overall with 378 kg. All three medalists in the combined standings surpassed the previous total record of 379 kg, set in September. Younes, López and Ro each left with a world mark.