Angie Palacios, right, claimed a world record in Havana ©Brian Oliver

Angie Palacios claimed a world record to continue a remarkable run of success for a special weightlifting family from Ecuador.

Palacios jumped and screamed after making a 121 kilograms snatch to better the 71kg world record set by Liao Guifang of China at the Asian Championships last month.

On the seventh day of competition, it was the first world record here at the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) Grand Prix in Havana.

The record lift helped Palacios to post 121-140-261, moving her up from fourth place to second behind Liao in the Olympic rankings.

Her older sister Neisi Dajomes, who lifts here at 81kg on Friday won Olympic gold at 76kg in Tokyo and took the Pan American 81kg title this year.

Their younger brother German became Pan American junior champion at 81kg last month and youngest sister Jessica, 17, has won silver medals in the World Youth and Pan American Junior Championships this year at 59kg.

Remarkably, neither of their parents had a sporting background.

"It was our older brother Javier, who sadly passed away, who got Neisi started in weightlifting," said Palacios, after listing the achievements of her siblings. 

"He passed on his passion to all of us, gave us our love for weightlifting."

Palacios, 22, almost made the record-breaking lift look easy.

"It was a comfortable movement," she said. 

Eyglo Sturludottir became the first Icelandic woman at any weight to snatch 100kg ©Brian Oliver
Eyglo Sturludottir became the first Icelandic woman at any weight to snatch 100kg ©Brian Oliver

"I prepared well for this competition, put myself in a good position to make it happen. 

"I have made 120kg plenty of times in training."

The biggest move in the Paris rankings came from the Individual Neutral Athlete Siuzanna Valodzka, from Belarus, who had never totalled 200kg before today and had not lifted since she was a teenager.

Valodzka, 23, made 108-134-242, improving her best for Belarus by 44kg in her first international competition since December 2018, leaving her sixth in the simplified list.

Olivia Reeves fared better of the two Americans in the contest, finishing third on 108-133-241, which was 6kg lower than her best qualifying total.

Her team-mate Meredith Alwine failed to make a total after three snatch failures, as did the Italian Giulia Miserendino, whose three no-lifts came in clean and jerk.

Chen Wen-Huei, the 64kg Tokyo bronze medallist, was fourth on 102-127-229, which was 3kg down on her best qualifying effort.

There was a shout of joy from Eyglo Sturludottir in the B Group when she became the first Icelandic woman at any weight to snatch 100kg, which she managed on her third attempt.

"People have been asking me for a while 'when are you going to do it?', so it was nice to do it here on a big stage," said Sturludottir, 21, who combines weightlifting with studying to be a doctor.

Petr Asayonak, who lifted at Rio 2016 for Belarus, won on 162-206-368 ©Brian Oliver
Petr Asayonak, who lifted at Rio 2016 for Belarus, won on 162-206-368 ©Brian Oliver

An American and an Individual Neutral Athlete were on the podium in the men’s 89kg too.

Four men withdrew from the A Group, and by the time the remaining seven had finished the scoreboard was a sea of red: 13 no-lifts in the snatch and 10 more in clean and jerk.

Petr Asayonak, who lifted at Rio 2016 for Belarus, won on 162-206-368, which will put him in the top 10 in the Paris rankings.

The American Nathan Damron got the bar above his head when he went up 10kg for his final lift at 210kg, but he could not control it and lost his chance of victory.

Damron would have improved his best qualifying total by 5kg if he had held on for a good lift.

Damron finished second on 165-200-365 and Safaa Aljumaili from Iraq was third on 161-200-361 - a great effort after a long and tiring journey from his homeland.

The Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist Antonino Pizzolato from Italy was among those who withdrew.

He has yet to make a total in qualifying because of a back injury, and is expected to be fit for action at the IWF World Championships in Saudi Arabia in September.

Two Colombians weighed in without lifting, the World Championships silver medallist Brayan Rodallegas and multiple youth and junior champion Yeison Lopez Lopez, who has never been beaten in his 11 international appearances.

In the B Group, the American Clarence "CJ" Cummings made his first lift in international weightlifting since the Tokyo Olympic Games and spoke afterwards of his battle with depression.