Ecuadorian weightlifter Barrera captures Oly gold by huge margin

Tokyo : Neisi Patricia Dajomes Barrera of Ecuador dominated the women’s 76kg classification at the Olympic Games on Sunday, winning gold by a huge margin of 14kg, ahead of American Katherine Nye.The bronze medal went to Mexican Aremi Fuentes Zavala, who tallied 245kg.Barrera, the bronze medallist at the 2019 World Championships, stormed to a comfortable lead in the snatch as she hoisted 118kg, five kilos more than Iryna Dekha of Ukraine, winner in the European Championships this year.The 23-year-old extended her advantage in the clean and jerk with a lift of 145kg, totalling 263kg to win. She has become the third athlete representing Ecuador to win a medal at the Olympic Games.Dekha, 25, lost momentum as she failed all her attempts in the clean and jerk. Nye, junior world champion in 2019, clinched silver with a total of 249kg, and the bronze went to Arem Fuentes Zavala of Mexico with 245kg.The 22-year-old Nye won the world title in the women’s 71kg event in 2019, an event not on the Olympic programme. The only female representing the USA to win a gold medal in weightlifting at the Olympics was Tara Nott in the 48kg event at the Sydney 2000 Olympics.