China's Li Fabin defends his Olympic title on Wednesday in the men's 61kg weightlifting division at the Olympic Games in Paris. Li, 31, set an Olympic record of 143kg in the snatch and lifted 167kg in the clean and jerk to make a winning total. (WEI XIAOHAO/CHINA DAILY)

China's Li Fabin defended his Olympic championship on Wednesday in the men's 61-kilogram weightlifting event at the Paris Olympics and won the nation's 23rd gold medal at the Games.

Li, 31, set an Olympic record of 143 kg in the snatch, and lifted 167 kg in the clean and jerk, in the first weightlifting event of the Paris Games.

Theerapong Silachai of Thailand won silver, and Hampton Morris of the United States won bronze.

There was also good news from the sport climbing field on Wednesday.

Chinese speed climber Deng Lijuan won the country's first Olympic medal in the sport in the thrilling women's final, losing by a mere 0.08-second margin to Poland's world record holder Aleksandra Miroslaw.

"I am really satisfied with my performance today," said Deng, who finished in 6.18 seconds, an Asian record time, in the final at Le Bourget Climbing Venue in a northern Paris suburb. "This event is all about challenging yourself constantly, and I am so happy to see that I've improved a lot at this Olympic stage."

The speed discipline involves two climbers ascending the same routes on a wall to finish first by touching the pad in a timed, one-on-one knockout format that leaves no room for even the slightest misstep.

The Chinese Mountaineering Association, the nation's governing body for sport climbing, hailed Deng's performance in the final as a shining example for Chinese youths.

"Nothing is too difficult as long as you dare to climb," the association said in a congratulatory letter. "Deng has lived up to the spirit of mountaineering and sport climbing by tenaciously fighting against challenges and always thriving to scale new heights."

As the undisputed favorite in the women's event, Miroslaw had twice broken her own world record, which stood on Monday at 6.06 seconds. Deng also improved her personal best twice en route to the final.