Sarah Robles, who in Rio earned the first U.S. Olympic weightlifting medal since 2000 (super heavyweight bronze), on Tuesday became the first American to win a world title since 1994.
The 29-year-old lifted two fewer kilograms than she did in Rio -- a total of 626 pounds between the snatch and the clean and jerk in Anaheim, Calif.
The last American to win a world title was Robin Byrd in 1994.
New Zealand’s Laurel Hubbard took silver with 606 total pounds, the first-ever world medal for her country.
Hubbard, 39, previously competed in men’s weightlifting, according to Reuters, which reported that Hubbard continued to decline interviews Tuesday, as she has for much of this year.
“She stayed away because she was embarrassed, probably,” Robles’ coach, Tim Swords, said, according to Reuters. “When Sarah beat Hubbard in the snatch, we were congratulated by multiple coaching staffs. Nobody wanted her to win.”
Hubbard may be the first openly transgender athlete to compete at a world championships in an Olympic sport. No openly transgender athlete has competed at an Olympics, though Olympic rules allow it.
Robles, Hubbard and others benefited from the absence of countries banned for doping issues, like weightlifting powers China and Russia, and North Korea, another strong lifting nation, not sending a team.
Chinese and North Korean lifters won gold and silver in the super heavyweight division in Rio.
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