Outclassed by younger athletes, South Korean weightlifter Jang Mi-ran fell well short of defending her gold medal in the women's heaviest class Sunday at the London Olympics.

Jang finished fourth in the women's over-75-kilogram class, after lifting 289㎏ with 125㎏ in snatch and 164㎏ in clean and jerk.

Zhou Lulu of China broke her own record for total weight with 333㎏, with 146㎏ in snatch and 187㎏ in clean and jerk. Tatiana Kashirina of Russia broke her own snatch world record twice en route to the silver medal at 332kg. She cleared 151㎏ in snatch and 181㎏ in clean and jerk.

Hripsime Khurshudyan of Armenia, who is about 31㎏ lighter than Jang, beat the South Korean by 5㎏ in total for the bronze medal.

With Zhou and Kashirina far ahead after snatch, the rest of the field competed for bronze. Jang threw down the gauntlet first by lifting 164㎏ in her second clean and jerk attempt to get to 289㎏ total. Then Khurshudyan, who finished snatch at 128㎏, cleared 166㎏ in her second clean and jerk try to move past Jang.

After the Armenian's successful lift, Jang submitted 170㎏ for her third and final try but dropped the barbell behind her head.

The 28-year-old grew emotional after what could have been her final Olympics.

"I am just lucky to have finished the competition without getting hurt," Jang said with her eyes reddened. "I am worried that I've let down people who have given me a lot of love and support, because I didn't come near the records I set in Beijing."

In winning the gold four years ago, Jang smashed world records in each of snatch, clean and jerk, and total weight with 140㎏, 186㎏ and 326㎏, respectively.

In the four years since the last Olympics, Jang has been bothered by nagging injuries and has been surpassed by the likes of Kashirina, 21, and Zhou, 24. Kashirina, after winning silver Sunday, now owns the three best snatch weights ever in her class.

Zhou is the owner of the total weight world mark with 333㎏ and shares the clean and jerk mark with Jang at 187㎏.

Jang, who turns 29 in October, hasn't yet announced her retirement, though she's long been expected to do so after London.

On Sunday, she declined to commit one way or the other.

"It's not something I can decide on my own," Jang said. "It's premature at this point to talk about my future."

Jang has enjoyed one of the most decorated weightlifting careers that includes, in addition to her gold from Beijing, an Olympic silver from Athens, an Asian Game gold and four world championships. (Yonhap News)