China won 21 gold medals at the Weightlifting World Championships in Vancouver, twice as many as second-place Turkey, as the competition concluded Saturday.

The Chinese women won five of the seven weight classes and set nine of the 11 world records at the competition. Thailand and Ukraine also won women’s golds.

Ding Meiyuan, Shang Shichun and Liu Chunhong set world marks, as did Hanna Batsiushka of Belarus and Natalia Skakun of Ukraine.

Maryse Turcotte was the local hero, winning Canada’s first ever medal in the clean and jerk.

On the men’s side, China, Iran and Turkey each won two of the eight divisions. Romania and Bulgaria won the others. No records were set, but many of the world’s top lifters were missing.

Greece, which qualifies for the 2004 Athens Olympics automatically, did not send its top lifters, who are among the best in the world.

Among the men’s Olympic qualifiers, Bulgaria, China, Iran, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine will send maximum six-man teams.

For the women, four-lifter teams will be from Bulgaria, China, Colombia, India, Russia, South Korea, Thailand, Turkey and Ukraine.

The results are not official until doping tests are completed.

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