Okoli ruins Breeze's farewell with 63kg gold

Nigerian teenager Obioma Okoli won the Commonwealth Games women's 63kg weightlifting gold on Thursday and shattered defending champion Michaela Breeze's hopes of retiring on a high.

Updated on: Oct 7, 2010, 20:49:33 IST

AFP | By HT Correspondent, New Delhi

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Nigerian teenager Obioma Okoli won the Commonwealth Games women's 63kg weightlifting gold on Thursday and shattered defending champion Michaela Breeze's hopes of retiring on a high.

Okoli's youth and strength proved too big a barrier for Welsh college teacher Breeze, 13 years older then her rival and who was desperate to end her 18-year career with a successful defence of the title she won in Melbourne in 2006.

Breeze was ahead after the snatch having lifted 92kg to Okoli's 90 and then extended her advantage when she was successful with 110kg in the clean and jerk.

She then failed on 113 to leave her on an overall total of 202kg before Okoli nipped ahead with 115kg (205 total) and finished with a flourish to equal the Commonwealth record of 121kg for a winning total of 211kg.

Cameroon's Marie Josephe Fegue claimed bronze on 198kg.

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