Chinese veteran weightlifter Lyu Xiaojun, born in 1984, made history by winning a gold medal in the men's 81kg category while setting three new Olympic records on Saturday.

Lyu, who turned 37 on Tuesday, broke the record for the oldest Olympic Games champion in the sport, previously set by Rudolf Plukfelder of the Soviet Union, who was 36 when he won gold at Tokyo 1964.

Taking up weightlifting in 1998, Lyu said the past two decades were all about his love for the sport.

"I like weightlifting at a young age, but now it's my love. This is why I will carry on until I'm 37 years old, or even 40," Lyu said at a news conference.