China suffered a rare failure in the men's 77kg category after Xianng Yanmei won the fourth weightlifting gold for China.

After defending champion Lvu Xiaojun finished all the lifts with a total of 379kg, Nijat Rahimov of Kazakhstan succeeded in lifting 214kg in his second jerk, 12 kilos more than his first attempt, thus breaking the existing jerk world record of 210kg, made by Oleg Perepechenov of Russia in 2001.

Rahimov, the world champion in 2015, lifted a total of 379kg too, but won the gold due to the bodyweight advantage.

Lyu took the lead in the snatch, as he hoisted 177kg in his third attempt to break his own snatch world record by one kilo.

Ibrahim Ramadan Ibrahim Abdelbaki of Egypt, who finished sixth at the 2014 worlds, claimed the bronze at 361kg, becoming the first athlete from Africa to claim an Olympic medal in men's weightlifting since 1948.

Earlier on Wednesday, Xiang Yanmei shrugged off the unexpected neck injury in the snatch to win the gold medal with a total of 261kg in the women's 69kg category final.

Zhazira Zhapparkul of Kazakhstan, who has stood below Xiang on the podium at the 2015 worlds, claimed the silver with a total of 259kg and the bronze went to Sara Ahmed of Egypt at 255kg.