BEIJING — Matthias Steiner of Germany won a battle of giants Tuesday to claim Olympic gold in weightlifting's heaviest division and the right to call himself the world's strongest man.

Steiner heaved a total of 461 kilogram (1,016.3 pounds) in the men's superheavyweight category, clinching the win with a clean and jerk of 258 kg (568.8 pounds).

At the medal ceremony, Steiner held up a picture of his late wife, who died in a car accident last year.

"I thought of her before the competition," Steiner said.

Russia's Evgeni Chigishev was second while world champion Viktors Scerbatihs of Latvia settled for bronze.

Chigishev was the strongest in the snatch session. He kissed his fists after a 210-kg (463-pound) lift that gave him a 7-kg (15.4-pound) advantage over fourth-placed Steiner going into the second event — the clean and jerk.

He let out a victorious roar after clearing 250 kg (551.2 pounds) in his last lift, but the glory was short-lived.

Steiner, who took 203 kg (447.5 pounds) in the snatch session, stunned everyone in his last clean and jerk, a monster effort that was also the final lift of the Olympic weightlifting competition.

In the snatch, the bar is raised above the head in one continuous motion. The clean and jerk is a two-part lift in which the bar is first pulled up to shoulder level, and then thrust overhead.

Missing from Tuesday's competition was weightlifting legend Hossein Rezazadeh, who announced his retirement before the Olympics after doctors said his health was in danger. Also known as the "Iranian Hercules," Rezazadeh won gold in the past two Olympics and holds the world records for snatch, clean and jerk and total.

China wasn't represented in the heaviest categories but dominated other weight classes at the Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics. The 10 Chinese lifters won eight gold and one silver, a big boost to the host nation's overall medal tally.