Gururaja Poojary lifts bronze at Commonwealth Games

The weightlifter was in a back-and-forth battle with Canada's Youri Simard.

India won their second weightlifting medal at Commonwealth Games 2022 day 2, courtesy of Gururaja Poojary who lifted a total of 269 kgs to bag the bronze in the men’s 61kg weightlifting. 

While Malaysian Aznil Bidin and Papua New Guinea’s Baru Morea competed for gold, Gururaja Poojary locked horns with Canadian Youri Simard in a fierce battle for the bronze medal. Baru managed a total of 273kgs, but Bidin took his second CWG gold and strengthened his grasp with a total of 285kgs. 

The 29-year-old Indian from Kundapura, Karnataka began with a successful first snatch attempt of 115kgs before following that up with another successful 118kgs lift. His third snatch attempt of 120 kgs was unsuccessful. 

After the end of the snatch, Gururaja was fourth behind Canadian Youri Simard, who managed 119kgs. Bidin came in at the end and smashed the games record with a successful 127kgs attempt. He ended up with a six-kilo lead over Baru. 

Gururaja was India’s first medalist at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, where he won a silver. He dropped his initial clean and jerk weight from 145kgs to 144kgs. He completed his first attempt with ease. Simard meanwhile was pushing himself to new levels. He made it five from five with a 145 kg lift after initially struggling for balance. 

Gururaja then matched his personal best of 148kgs with a straight-forward clean and jerk attempt. He showcased perfect elbow lock and got good thrust from his thighs to stabilize the jerk. Simard was in the zone and was lifting with a smile on his face until his 149kgs attempt, in which he pulled off the unthinkable after losing his balance during the clean but somehow kept his shape on his toes to breach his personal best. 

The Indian, who took up wrestling initially, showed his fierce fighting spirit to nab the bronze off Simard. Gururaja lifted 151 kgs, three kgs over his personal best. Considering his age, this is an incredible feat.

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