IWF World Championships: GB's Zoe Smith claims career-best sixth place
- Published
Zoe Smith: Weightlifter on fighting back from depression & targeting Tokyo
Great Britain's Zoe Smith claimed her best result at a World Championships with sixth place in the final of the -59kg class in Pattaya, Thailand.
Smith registered a total of 216kg after lifting 93kg in the snatch and 123kg in the clean and jerk.
A Commonwealth gold medallist at Glasgow 2014, Smith has moved from the -64kg division to the -59kg class to boost British Weightlifting's prospects of qualifying two women for Tokyo 2020 - with fellow Commonwealth medallist Sarah Davies in the heavier division.
In a recent interview with 大象传媒 Sport, Smith revealed her struggles with mental health since a serious shoulder injury ruled her out of the 2016 Rio Olympics and UK Sport ended all funding for British Weightlifting later that year.
However, some funding has since been reinstated, boosting the fit-again Smith's hopes of featuring in Tokyo.
Results at the World Championships count towards Olympic qualification, and Smith had targeted a top-eight finish in Thailand.
Kuo Hsing-chun of Chinese Taipei won the -59kg class on Saturday, successfully defending her title with a 246kg total.