The participants in the Rio Olympic Games Sergey Cechir and Natalia Prishchepa defended the titles of Moldova’s weightlifting champions. They both emerged victorious in the 60 kg weight class in the men’s and, respectively, women’s competitions, IPN reports.

Sergei Cechir, who ranked sixth at the 2016 Summer Olympics, beat Constantin Bratu and Vlad Istrati, while Natalia Prishchepa was followed by Ecaterina Kylchik and Svetlana Roznovan. The winners in the other eight classes were: Daniel Lungu (56 kg), Victor Anici (62 kg) and Ivan Varban (77 kg).

The national weightlifting championship is held in Cahul town. It ends on March 24.