By Gary Anderson

April 11 - Siamand Rahman became the world's strongest Paralympian on his way to World Championship gold in Dubai ©Getty Images A much anticipated clash between Iranians Siamand Rahman and Mansour Pourmirzaei at the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) World Powerlifting Championships went the way of Rahman as he broke the world record three times on his way to gold.

The London 2012 gold medallist came into the event at the Dubai Club for the Disabled promising to break the record of 276 kilograms held by Pourmirzaei, and he delivered on that promise in spectacular fashion in the men's over 107kg category.

Rahman dominated from the very first round as he posted 275kg, jut 1kg short of the record, while a disappointingly out-of-form Pourmirzaei could only manage 255kg.

Pourmirzaei added 10kg with his second lift but that was overshadowed by his compatriot who shattered the world record with 281kg.

His opponent's failure at 275kg ensured Rahman had the world title in the bag, and buoyed by the victory, he thrilled the crowd by lifting an incredible 285kg before raising the bar yet again and nailing an effort of 285.5kg to emphasise his superiority.

Pourmirzaei had to make do with silver while bronze went to Iraqi Faris Al-Ajeeli.

Iran also took the junior world title as Meysam Motaghian lifted 175kg.

The men's under 107kg class was also a thriller, with Greece's Pavlos Mamalos breaking the world record twice to add the world title to the bronze medal he won at London 2012.

The London 2012 bronze medallist's final round lift of 240kg added 6.5kg to the world record previously set in January.

Iran's Ali Sadeghzadehsalmani took silver with an effort of 231kg, just 1kg ahead of Azerbaijani Elshan Huseynov, who only needed one good lift to take the bronze.

The junior world title also went to Iran as 18-year-old Mahdi Sayadi broke his own junior world record three times, taking gold with a lift of 167kg.

Pavlos Mamalos won World Championship gold in Dubai with a record lift of 240kg ©Getty Images Pavlos Mamalos won World Championship gold in Dubai with a record lift of 240kg ©Getty Images



In the final women's event of the week, another athlete set multiple world records as Nigeria's Precious Orji smashed her own record three times on her way to victory in the women's over 86kg category.

Orji lifted 145kg with her first attempt to best her own world mark of 142kg, before going on to take the World Championship gold with an impressive 151kg.

Nadia Ali of Egypt took home the silver medal despite injuring herself when completing her second lift of 135kg, while Melaica Tuinfort secured the Netherland's first medal of the Championships taking bronze with an effort of 113kg.

After seven days of action in Dubai, Nigeria top the final medal table having secured five gold medals, ahead of Egypt on four and three for China.

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