Commonwealth Games: Jeremy Lalrinnunga smashes CWG record to win India's second gold

Medals continued to flow for India in weightlifting with Jeremy Lalrinnunga winning gold in the men’s 67kg final in the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games on Sunday.

Lalrinnunga won India’s fifth medal of the Games so far, all of them coming in weightlifting so far with a total lift of 300kg — a Commonwealth Games record.

A gutsy performance from @raltejeremy in the Men’s 67 KG Category gives team 🇮🇳 it’s second 🥇 in weightlifting 🏋🏻‍♀️ at @birminghamcg22. With a total lift of 300KG he also sets a #gamesrecord ! #ekindiateamindia #B2022 pic.twitter.com/CZ09t7GyOb

— Team India (@WeAreTeamIndia) July 31, 2022

The 2018 Youth Olympic champion dominated the men’s 67kg competition with a total lift of 300kg (140kg+160kg), finishing ahead of Samoa’s Vaipava Nevo Ioane, who managed a total of 293kg (127kg +166kg). Nigeria’s Edidiong Joseph Umoafia took bronze with an effort of 290kg (130kg+160kg).

The 19-year-old from Aizwal wrote the Games snatch (140kg) and overall lift (300kg) record in his name but not before an injury scare as twice he grimaced in pain during the clean and jerk attempts.

Jeremy opened up a huge 10kg gap with the nearest rival Edidiong Joseph Umoafia when he lifted 140kg in a successful second attempt. He had begun with 136kg. Jeremy further targetted 143kg in his final attempt, but did not succeed.

In Clean and Jerk, the 2021 Commonwealth Championship winner began with 154kg and followed that up with 160kg, but could not complete the 165kg attempt.

Son of a national-level boxer Lalneihtluanga, Lalrinnunga also aspired to don the gloves but shifted to weightlifting as it involved just power to excel, something he found fascinating.

Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Mirabai Chanu won India’s first gold medal of the Games with a total lift of 201kg, shattering the Commonwealth Games record along the way with a lift of 113kg in her final clean and jerk attempt and was miles ahead of her opponents. She successfully defended the gold medal that she won at the Gold Coast CWG four years ago in the process.

Commonwealth Games: India schedule, Results, Medals tally

Earlier on the second day of the Games, Sanket Sargar opened India’s account in the medal table by winning silver in the men’s 55kg final with a total lift of 248kg, just a whisker short of Malaysia’s Aniq Kasdan’s score (249kg). Sargar though ended up injuring his right elbow during one of his clean and jerk attempts, and was seen wearing a sling to the podium after the event.

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