Photos by Giorgio Scala/Deepbluemedia/ Hampton Morris/from IWF Webpage                                                              So Hyon Kim (PRK)/from IWF Webpage

C Group Opens the Action

The Men's 65kg competition began with C Group, where Wilmer Lugo Rodriguez (VEN) led the snatch with 133kg ahead of Albert Sharkov (RUS) on 132kg. Veteran Morea Baru (PNG) added another World Championships appearance to his remarkable career, finishing with a 275kg total.

In the overall C Group battle, Kotaro Sato (JPN) edged Lugo by just one kilogram, winning the group with 295kg to Lugo's 294kg.

The B Group Bloodbath

The B Group lived up to its pre-session billing as a true "bloodbath."

Ricko Saputra (INA) emerged on top with a 306kg total, while Indonesian legend Eko Yuli Irawan thrilled fans with a 301kg performance at 37 years old.

The biggest headline, however, belonged to Nguyen Thanh Duy (VIE). The 17-year-old sensation set new Youth World Records in both the clean & jerk and total, announcing himself as one of the sport's brightest young talents.

A Group: War Over 140kg

Then came the main event.

The Men's 65kg A Group snatch session featured some of the biggest numbers seen so far in Ningbo.

Olympic bronze medalist Hampton Morris (USA) matched his personal best with 143kg, while North Korea's Pak Myong Jin, China's Ding Hongjie, and Türkiye's reigning world champion Muhammed Furkan Ozbek turned the session into a battle fought almost entirely above 140 kilograms.

In front of an electric home crowd, He Yueji (CHN) produced the lift of the session, successfully snatching 148kg to claim gold.

Snatch Medalists 🥇 He Yueji (CHN) - 148kg
🥈 Muhammed Furkan Ozbek (TUR) - 147kg
🥉 Ding Hongjie (CHN) - 146kg

At that point, however, the real drama was only beginning.

Absolute Mayhem

The clean & jerk session will be remembered as one of the most dramatic battles of the championships.

There were surprise bomb-outs. There were huge personal bests. There were world records.

Tran Minh Tri (VIE) continued his excellent day with a four-kilogram personal best clean & jerk of 176kg, while American star Hampton Morris exploded onto the medal scene with a massive 185kg World Record clean & jerk.

Then North Korea answered.

Pak Myong Jin successfully lifted 187kg, setting a new World Record and putting himself in position for the world title.

The final moments brought both celebration and heartbreak.

Morris appeared to answer with 189kg, sending the arena into chaos. The lift looked good, Morris celebrated with his father and coach, and fans around the world erupted.

Then the jury reviewed the attempt.

No lift.

A devastating reversal for the American.

As a longtime Morris supporter, that moment was honestly difficult to watch. The emotions were real, and for a few seconds it felt like we were witnessing one of the greatest moments in modern weightlifting history.

Instead, the title belonged to North Korea.

Final Medals - Men's 65kg

Total 🥇 Pak Myong Jin (PRK) - 331kg WR
🥈 Muhammed Furkan Ozbek (TUR) - 330kg
🥉 Hampton Morris (USA) - 328kg

Clean & Jerk 🥇 Pak Myong Jin (PRK) - 187kg WR
🥈 Hampton Morris (USA) - 185kg WR
🥉 Muhammed Furkan Ozbek (TUR) - 183kg

Ningbo 2026 World Championships - Day 3 Recap

Home Gold, a B-Group Medalist, and Another Thrilling Battle in Women's 53kg

Day 3 of the IWF World Championships in Ningbo showcased exactly why weightlifting remains one of the most unpredictable sports in the world. While many expected the Women's 53kg medals to be decided entirely in the A Group, North Korea's Kim So Hyon made sure the B Session remained relevant right until the final lift.

Kim So Hyon Throws Down the Challenge

The biggest talking point before the A Group even began came from the B Session.

Kim So Hyon (PRK) posted an impressive 214kg total, including a massive 123kg clean & jerk, just three kilograms below the current world-record standard. With no North Korean athlete entered in the A Group, her marks immediately became the numbers everyone else had to chase.

Kim's performance aged remarkably well as the day progressed, ultimately earning her clean & jerk silver and total bronze despite lifting hours before the medal contenders.

Zhang and Ulrey Go Head-to-Head

The A Group opened with one of the strongest snatch battles seen so far in Ningbo.

China's Zhang Haiqin and America's Miranda Ulrey both finished at 98kg, with Zhang claiming gold on bodyweight. Meanwhile, Rosegie Ramos (PHI) continued her breakout competition with a career-best 97kg to secure snatch bronze.

Snatch Medalists 🥇 Zhang Haiqin (CHN) - 98kg
🥈 Miranda Ulrey (USA) - 98kg
🥉 Rosegie Ramos (PHI) - 97kg

Home Crowd Gets Its Champion

The clean & jerk brought another tense battle.

Ulrey recovered from an opening miss to finish with 122kg, briefly taking the overall lead and putting pressure squarely on the Chinese camp.

Zhang responded exactly as a champion should.

The Chinese lifter successfully made 123kg, securing both the clean & jerk victory on bodyweight and the overall world title in front of an enthusiastic home crowd. She even took a shot at 126kg, chasing a world-record-standard lift and a potential total world record, but could not stand from the clean.

By then, however, the job had already been done.

Final Medalists

Total

🥇 Zhang Haiqin (CHN) - 221kg
🥈 Miranda Ulrey (USA) - 220kg
🥉 Kim So Hyon (PRK) - 214kg (B Group)

Clean & Jerk

🥇 Zhang Haiqin (CHN) - 123kg
🥈 Kim So Hyon (PRK) - 123kg (B Group)
🥉 Miranda Ulrey (USA) - 122kg

Snatch

🥇 Zhang Haiqin (CHN) - 98kg
🥈 Miranda Ulrey (USA) - 98kg
🥉 Rosegie Ramos (PHI) - 97kg

A Reminder That Every Session Matters

The Women's 53kg competition was another reminder that medals can come from anywhere. Kim So Hyon left the platform after the B Group with no guarantee her numbers would survive, yet hours later she was still standing on the World Championship podium.

China ultimately secured another home-soil world title through Zhang Haiqin, but only by the narrowest of margins. Just a single kilogram separated gold and silver in the total, making Women's 53kg one of the most competitive categories of the championships so far.

Preview Video Now Available

Our second Ningbo World Championships preview videopodcast is now live on YouTube!

In the episode, we look ahead to the upcoming sessions, discuss the biggest storylines still to come, and break down some of the athletes we expect to make headlines over the next few days.

📺 Watch the latest preview now on YouTube and let us know your predictions for the remaining sessions.

Here is our Empress in weightlifting, Sonja Koponen