Rahmat Erwin Abdullah Contributes Indonesia's Second Gold Medal, Breaks 2 World Weightlifting Records

Rahmat Erwin Abdullah has claimed the Gold Medal for the men's 74kg category at the 2026 Asian Games. Not only did the 25-year-old weightlifter secure gold, he also broke two World Records for both the clean and jerk lift and overall total combined lift.

Rahmat confirmed his Gold Medal on Saturday 26 September, after surviving a tight, hard-fought contest against Chong Song Ri of North Korea and Weeraphon Wichuma of Thailand.

This additional gold also marks the second gold medal won by the Indonesian Asian Games Contingent at the 2026 tournament.

Competition remained tense right from the opening snatch session. Rahmat opened his round with a 155kg lift, completing it smoothly without difficulty.

For his second attempt, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic silver medalist increased the bar to 158kg and also completed this lift successfully.

Rahmat closed out the snatch session with a 160kg lift. This result placed him level with Weeraphon, but still behind Song Ri who had posted a 162kg snatch.

With these Standings, the gold medal would be decided entirely in the clean and jerk session. Song Ri successfully completed his opening clean and jerk attempt at 195kg. Meanwhile Weeraphon, who selected 200kg for his first clean and jerk attempt, failed on his first try.

The Thai weightlifter eventually completed this 200kg lift on his second attempt, keeping the contest for gold wide open.

Rahmat loaded the bar to 201kg and completed the lift successfully on his first clean and jerk attempt.

Song Ri attempted a 202kg lift for his second attempt but failed. The North Korean lifter returned to try this exact same weight for his final third attempt, but was once again unable to complete the lift.

Having only registered a 195kg clean and jerk, Song Ri finished with a final total combined lift of 357kg.

Weeraphon still held one remaining attempt to overturn the standings. He took a major risk by loading 205kg for his final third attempt, and successfully completed the lift.

Weeraphon's final total combined lift of 365kg placed enormous pressure on Rahmat.

However Rahmat responded to this pressure in masterful fashion. He increased the bar weight to 206kg for his own second attempt, completing the lift with apparent ease.

This lift locked in the gold medal for Rahmat. His final total combined lift reached 366kg, finishing exactly one kilogram ahead of Weeraphon.

This 206kg clean and jerk saw Rahmat break both the official world record for the 74kg clean and jerk, as well as the world record for total combined lift.

Rahmat had previously recorded a best snatch lift of 160kg. When combined with his 206kg clean and jerk, his final total reached 366kg.

This result also broke the previous total lift world record held by Chong Song Ri, his direct rival in this men's 74kg gold medal contest.

Final standings placed Rahmat on the top of the podium. Weeraphon Wichuma settled for the silver medal, while Chong Song Ri returned home with the bronze.