Injury forces out Hubbard

Laurel Hubbard, who was favourite to win the women's 90+kg weightlifting competition, was forced to withdraw from the competition today when she injured her arm during her third lift of the snatch section.

Hubbard, who finished second at the world championships in Anaheim earlier this year, lifted 120kg at her first attempt, missed at 127kg and then incurred the injury while attempting a Games record 132kg.

She got the bar above her head but seemed to over-extend.

After the event, she was still unsure the exact nature of her injury. "At this stage we don’t know the exact details - it looks like a ligament has ruptured but further scans will be needed to confirm the extent of the damage," she said.
‘I have no regrets about the decision to attempt a record weight as I believe that sport requires athletes to be their best."

Hubbard paid tribute to the crowd.

"The crowd was magnificent and gave me their full support. So I tried to give the crowd the best performance I could.
There was no hostility or indication of anything other than support from the crowd."

Despite her unhappy finish to the competition, she was clearly pleased to have competed. "It wouldn’t be true if I said I was happy, but I’m adamant that there are no regrets."

In another women's weightlifting competition today Tracey Lambrechs finished fifth in the 90kg division.

Lambrechs, 32, snatched 89kg, missed at 93kg then succeeded at 93kg. In the clean and jerk she missed at 119 kg succeeded with 120kg and missed at 126kg. Her total was 213kg. The event was won by Fjiian Eileen Cikamatana, who totalled 233kg.

Lambrechs is vastly experienced, having competed at the Delhi and Glasgow Commonwealth Games. She won a bronze medal in Glasgow in the 75kg division. She also competed at the 2016 Rio Olympics.