BEIJING, Aug 18: Belarussian Andrei Aramnau broke a series of world records to win Olympic weightlifting gold after a dramatic heavyweight showdown in the 105kg class on Monday.

Aramnau, 20, snatched a record 200kg and lifted 236kg in the clean and jerk, taking gold with a total of 436kg, roughly the weight of a horse. His main challenger, Poland’s Marcin Dolega lost his nerve after Aramnau pulled past him.

In a desperate bid to take back the record in the snatch, Dolega upped his weight to 201kg despite having failed to lift 200kg. He angrily pounded the barbell with his fist after the lift went wrong.

That left space for Dmitriy Klokov from Russia to grab the silver with a combined total of 423kg. His compatriot Dmitry Lapikov took the bronze.—Reuters