Ding shatters three records to claim gold

China's Ding Meiyuan smashed three world records to take Olympic gold in the superheavyweight category of the women's weightlifting competition on Friday.

Agata Wrobel of Poland also broke world records in the snatch and the clean-and-jerk in the over 75 kg weight class only to see Ding break them again within minutes.

Wrobel took silver while American Cheryl Haworth, who at 139.38 kg became the heaviest woman ever to step onto the Olympic weightlifting platform, took bronze.

Ding's success means all four members of the unstoppable Chinese women's team will leave Sydney with a gold medal.

The last event of the women's programme always promised to be a straightforward battle between world champion Ding and European champion Wrobel.

Wrobel made the first move, lifting 132.5 kg to break her own world record in the snatch.

But Ding hit back in a matter of minutes, taking the bar to 135 kg to lead at the halfway stage of the competition.

The same thing happened in the clean-and-jerk where Wrobel set a world record of 162.5 kg before Ding strode on stage and lifted 165 kg, barely flinching as she heaved the groaning bar over her head.

This set a new overall world record of 300 kg, making Ding the first woman ever to lift that weight.

That left Wrobel, the heavier of the two women, needing to lift a full 170 kg -- nine kilogrammes above the old world record before the start of competition -- to take the gold.

The teenager from the Polish mountain town of Zywiec made the attempt but did not even get the bar to her knees.

Haworth made all six of her lifts and looked as if she could have perhaps taken more weight.

The 17-year-old art student from Savannah, Georgia, snatched 125 kg and jerked 145 kg for a combined 270 kg.

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