Qistina, 19, turned her second appearance in the biennial Games into a personal show of power by lifting 65kg in the snatch and 79kg in the clean and jerk for a total lift of 144kg, erasing the old marks (snatch 59kg, clean and jerk 77kg and total 136kg) set by Nurul Afiqah Zamzuri at the 2019 SEA Games.

Qistina said the win has whetted her appetite to aim higher in the world of weightlifting.

“An athlete has to make a lot of sacrifices, especially being away from friends and family during training, but it will not deter me from going for glory, especially on the international stage,” she said.

Qistina intends to defend the gold she won today at the 2026 edition of the Games in Selangor.

Sabah’s Irene Jane Henry (total 137kg) and Sarawak’s Katierina Anak Bojing (108kg) settled for silver and bronze respectively.

In the men’s 55kg category, Perlis lifter Azri Irfan Azhar defended his gold medal with a total lift of 230kg (snatch 100kg, clean and jerk 130kg).

Pahang’s Rahimi Sulaiman lost out by just 1kg to take silver, with the Federal Territories’s Darwish Zharfan Tharmidzi clinching bronze with a total lift of 211kg.

In the men’s 61kg category, Kedah’s Amin Hakimi Shukry lifted a total of 234kg for the gold medal, followed by Terengganu’s Muslim Anwar (total 229kg) for silver and Sabah’s Mark Dylan Marcus (216kg) for bronze.

The weightlifting competition, which began today at the Tan Sri Datuk Amar Stephen Kalong Ningkan Sports Hall here, will end on Friday and offers 16 gold medals.