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Jeremy Lalrinnunga shatters CWG record, wins India’s second gold medal

Jeremy Lalrinnunga braved pain and discomfort to make his way to the top of the podium and continue India’ s medal rush in weightlifting at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games here on Sunday. The Youth Olympic champion who suffered cramps in his thigh and pulled his hamstring during the clean and jerk round showed nerves […]

Jeremy Lalrinnunga braved pain and discomfort to make his way to the top of the podium and continue India’ s medal rush in weightlifting at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games here on Sunday.

The Youth Olympic champion who suffered cramps in his thigh and pulled his hamstring during the clean and jerk round showed nerves of steel and lifted a combined weight of 300kg to not only clinch the gold medal but also create a new Commonwealth Games record in the men’s 67kg category.

Weightlifter Jeremy Lalrinnunga in action as he wins Gold Medal in Men’s 67kg finals weight category at the Commonwealth Games 2022, in Birmingham on Sunday.

The Mizoram based weightlifter lifted 140kg in the Snatch and followed it up with 160kg lift in the Clean and Jerk to help India win its second gold medal of the meet.

Samoa’s Vaipava Ioane won the silver with an effort of 293kg (127kg +166kg), while Edidiong Umoafia of Nigeria won the bronze courtesy of an aggregate lift of 290kg (130kg+160kg).

With the Pakistani Talha Talib missing out due dope suspension, the 19-year-old Mizo weightlifter was a strong contender for the top prize. He had a sedate start and after opening with a 136kg attempt, he upped the ante and lifted 140kg, which not only earned him a formidable cushion but also helped him shatter the Games record. In his third attempt, he tried 143kgs but lost his balance and he had to settle for 140kgs.

In the clean and jerk, the reigning Youth Olympic champion lifted 154kg and followed it up with 160kg. Even though it was still short of his personal best, that was enough to help him log his name in the record books. He tried to achieve the 165kg mark but he cramped up and went down on the floor. However, that did not have much of a bearing on the end result as his aggregate was more than enough to make him the Commonwealth Games champion.

“I am happy after winning the gold medal but not satisfied with my performance. I was expecting to perform better but winning gold for the country is a proud moment,” Mizo said after the event.

“The warm-up was very good but after a point, my front thigh and inner thigh muscles started to cramp, due to which I could not walk for a while and could not cross the 140kg mark during warm-up,” he concluded.

This was India’s fifth medal in the weightlifting competition with Mirabai Chanu (gold), Sanket Sargar (silver), Bidyarani Devi (silver) and Gururaj Poojary (bronze) finishing on the podium on Saturday.

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