Commonwealth Games 2018: Amid women domination, Sathish Sivalingam creates his own space in Indian weightlifting

Sathish Sivalingam created history becoming the first Indian male lifter to win two back-to-back Commonwealth Games gold medals. Over the years, the inspirational figures for Indian weightlifting have been the women — Karnam Malleshwari and Kunjarani Devi — but Sathish’s feat on Saturday have made him the first pin-up boy of Indian weightlifting.

The victory in the 77 kg may have looked clinical in the end with the Indian lifter deciding not to go for the third and the final lift but Sathish had his issues with a thigh injury in run-up to the competition. “I had injured myself during the National Championship earlier this year. The pain was overbearing at times and I was at times struggling even to sit down,’’ said Sathish.

[caption id=“attachment_4422287” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Sathish Sivalingam’s feat on Saturday have made him the first pin-up boy of Indian weightlifting. PTI[/caption]

Looking ahead, Sathish is bullish about the prospects at the Asian Games. “Unlike last time, where I barely had few weeks to prepare myself for the Games after my Commonwealth Games, this time I have around two months to get ready for the big competition,’’ added Sathish. After a fairytale run in Glasgow, Sathish developed fever on the eve of his event in Incheon Asian Games and eventually pulled out. It is still a tall order to ensure a podium finish in Jakarta where the top medal contenders are expected to lift around 350 kg. Satish registered a total lift of 317 kg on Saturday.

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According to him, he did not want to aggravate the thigh injury which prevented him from going for a higher weight in Gold Coast, especially in the clean and jerk. Sathish had finished 11th at the Rio Olympics and says his main target is the Tokyo Olympics for which he still has two more years. On the reasons for the medal glut in weightlifting, Sathish believes the hard work put by all the lifters including the coaching staff led by Vijay Sharma is paying off. “Not only me, all the lifters in the national camp have hardly got a break for more than 10 days in the last two years,’’ asserts the soft spoken lifter who has fond memories of the grand welcome he received in Vellore four years ago after his Glasgow gold medal.  Hundreds lined up along the streets of Vellore while the weightlifting hero traveled along the city in in an open vehicle.

“While the gold medals are satisfying at personal level, but my wins have also gone a long way in popularizing the sport. When I now visit colleges and fitness clubs, youngsters come up to me, asking me how they can take up the sport,’’ says the 25-year-old who hails from Vellore who took up the sport seriously so that he could get a government job. He is currently employed with the Indian Railways.

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Sathish has witnessed the dark days of Indian weightlifting when drugs cast its shadow but heaves a sigh of relief that the sport has managed to stage a remarkable comeback transforming its image from dope to hope. “I think there has a been a major thrust on the education of the young lifters provided by the coaches. The youngsters are briefed exhaustively on the supplements that are legitimate,’’ says Satish

21-year-old Ragala Venkat Rahul continued the dominance of the Indian lifters at the Gold Coast winning the 85 kg category. But Australia has been the happy hunting ground for the Ragalas as six months ago his younger brother Varun bagged a gold in the Commonwealth Youth Championship at the same venue. Hailing from Guntur, the passion for weightlifting runs in the genes with their father, Madhu, inspiring all his three children to take up the sport.  While their sister has given up on weightlifting focusing on her studies, Varun and Venkat have taken up the sport seriously. “Financial constraints prevented me from taking up the sport but I wanted my children not to give up,’’ says Madhu, who was also a national-level kabaddi player. In fact, while Rahul was lifting the iron in Gold Coast, Varun was busy with his preparations for a tournament in Uzbekistan.

The journey has not been easy for the Ragala brothers who had to face financial difficulties as well as the tragic loss of their mother who passed away two years ago. A product of the Telengana Sports School, Rahul was a prodigious talent who got noticed as a school boy and was winning national level competitions with ease.

It has a been a difficult ride and the road will get tougher with mounting expectations of a medal in the Asian Games and the Tokyo Olympics. Not one to shun to do the hard yards, hopefully the gold on Saturday will ensure there is plenty of financial and infrastructure support for the talented lifter.