Iran finished third in the team standings at the 2026 World Weightlifting Championships in Ningbo, China, with Alireza Yousefi stealing the show by breaking the clean and jerk world record on the final day.

The Iranian team wrapped up its campaign with eight medals – one gold, three silver and four bronze – to finish behind North Korea, who topped the standings with 533 points, and hosts China, who collected 527. Iran finished third with 425 points, ahead of South Korea on 370.

Yousefi delivered the standout performance of the championships in the men's +110kg category, setting a new world record of 263kg in the clean and jerk to claim gold in the discipline. He also secured silver in the total with 458kg.

Yousefi's record-breaking lift came after a dramatic sequence of attempts on Sunday. He opened with 253kg, missed 258kg on his second attempt, but returned to the platform to successfully lift 263kg with his final effort, improving his own previous world record by 2kg.

The Iranian super-heavyweight had earlier completed all three snatch attempts at 186kg, 191kg and 195kg, finishing fourth in the discipline. His 458kg total put him ahead of Armenian Olympic silver medalist Varazdat Lalayan, who settled for bronze with 457kg. Iraq's Ali Ammar Yusur claimed the overall title with 466kg.

Yousefi was not the only Iranian to reach the podium in the +110kg category. Ali Davoudi claimed snatch bronze after lifting 206kg. He added 246kg in the clean and jerk to finish fourth overall with 452kg.

Earlier in the competition, Ali Alipour produced a clean sweep of bronze medals in the men's 95kg category. He lifted 181kg in the snatch and 215kg in the clean and jerk for a total of 396kg, earning third place in all three standings.

Iran had another strong showing in the men's 110kg category, where Alireza Nasiri secured two silver medals. He lifted 185kg in the snatch before producing a 233kg clean and jerk to finish runner-up in the latter discipline. His combined total of 418kg also earned him silver in the overall standings.

The 2026 World Weightlifting Championships, held from October 27 to November 8, served as the first qualifying event on the road to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.