LONDON (AP) — North Korea’s Om Yun Chol on Sunday joined an exclusive group of weightlifters who have lifted three times their body weight.
The 5-foot Om also set an Olympic record when he cleared 370 pounds in the clean and jerk in the men’s 123-pound (56 kilograms) category.
Om’s achievement was even more impressive considering he was competing in the “B” group with lower-ranked lifters. Medal contenders generally compete in the “A” group, scheduled for later Sunday.
Om must now wait to see if any lifters in the “A” can match his 646-pound total.
Among the few to have cleared three times their body weight are Turkey’s Halil Mutlu and Naim Suleymanoglu.
