China’s Meng Suping bows in thanks after repaying last-minute call-up with weightlifting gold

Chinese weightlifter Meng Suping dropped to her knees and bowed to a packed stadium after clinching her first-ever Olympics gold in Rio, winning a round of applause that shook the Riocentro stadium.

It was a move perhaps no one would have expected from the muscular woman who had just hoisted a combined weight of 307kg in the women’s +75kg division, beating heavyweights Kim Kuk Kyang of North Korea by 1kg and the Sarah Robles of the USA by 21kg.

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“I think this is my duty for my country and my party and once I received this duty I pursued it,” the 27-year-old said afterwards.

The gold medal carries not just the 307kg she lifted but the expectation of everyone who has made Meng a modern-day superwoman.

Her story also highlights the pressure other Chinese athletes have faced in Rio, as Team China struggles to deliver a performance as strong as the team did at London 2012.

It was also a medal that Meng would not have imagined two weeks ago – a knee injury to the 48kg favourite Hou Zhihui prompted the decision to call for Meng,