Commonwealth Games 2022 Review: Weightlifters shine through

The lifters came home with 10 medals in total from the multi-sport event.

The 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham were a success for the Indian contingent. Following a valiant effort by the athletes, India won 61 medals in total having 22 gold, 16 silver and 23 bronze medals. Out of that total, the weightlifters won 10, including three gold medals. The overall performance by the weightlifting stars was commendable despite them missing out on gold medals on a few occasions.

Weightlifting was one of the firm hopes of delivering lots of medals for India at the Commonwealth Games. With lifters like Olympic silver medalist Mirabai Chanu and Jeremy Lalrinnunga among others part of the squad, there was a sense of calmness before the quadrennial event began in Birmingham.

India won 10 medals in the event this time, overcoming the 9 medal haul that they won at the Gold Coast edition. Although, India won two fewer gold medals this time. At Gold Coast, they won five gold medals. 

The Indian weightlifting contingent didn’t disappoint and rose to the occasion but still, they are many areas of improvement and in order to stand any chance to be in medal contention in Olympics, they need to raise their bar even more. Here is a review of Indian weightlifting performance at the 2022 Commonwealth Games:

Positives

Mirabai Chanu lived up to her name and delivered the first gold medal of the Commonwealth Games for India. She lifted a total weight of 201kg in women’s 49kg category. She lifted 88kg in snatch (S) in her second attempt and matched her personal best. In the clean & jerk (C&J), she lifted 113kg. India’s second gold came from young Jeremy Lalrinnunga in the 67kg category. Jeremy lifted a total weight of 300kg (140kg S + 160kg C&J) to bag the gold. 

Debuting in the games, Achinta Sheuli made headlines when he dominated in the 73kg category and won gold. He lifted a total weight of 313kg (143kg S+170kg C&J). These two were the high points among men’s performances. Both aggregated below their personal best marks, but gave India two important medals and showed promise for the future.

While 21-year-old Sanket Sargar won a silver medal in the 55kg category. He lifted a total weight of 248kg (113kg S+135kg C&J) to finish just one kg behind the gold medalist Mohamad Aniq who lifted 249kg (107kg S+142kg C&J). He aimed for a gold medal but injured his right elbow in the process of attempting to lift 139kg in his second clean and jerk attempt to eventually settle for a second place. 

In another category, weightlifter Bindyarani Devi won a Silver in the women’s 55kg, lifting a total weight of 202kg. She created games record by lifting 116kg in clean & jerk while lifting 86kg in snatch

India’s weightlifter Lovepreet Singh won a Bronze Medal in the men’s 109 kg category. Lovepreet Singh had broken his own national record with a total of 355kg lift in the category. 

Negatives

While there are a lot of positives to take on, there are some negatives too which need to be pointed out. Punam Yadav, the two-time Commonwealth medalist failed to take any medal in Women’s 76kg category. She was eyeing her third consecutive medal in the games. She was placed second after lifting a snatch of 98kg but wasn’t able to lift a clear clean & jerk as a result all her attempts were called foul. This is perhaps the biggest disappointment as she was the gold medalist in the Gold Coast Games. 

Sanket Sargar, who landed a silver in 55kg, missed out on a gold due to the hand injury he picked up during the competition.

Commonwealth championship gold medallist Ajay Singh, who was a medal contender, narrowly missed out on a podium finish in the 81kg class.

Another interesting thing to note now is there will be only one weightlifter among Jeremy Lalrinnunga and Achinta Sheuli who will qualify for the Olympics. There is no 67kg category in the Paris Olympics 2024 and Jeremy has to fight in the 73kg category. And due to the Olympic rules, only one of the two will be able to go through. This in a way is a loss for India.

Other notable performances

Weightlifting contingent won a total of 10 medals. Other medal winners consisted of Gururaja Poojary, who won a Bronze medal in the Men’s 61 kg weight category. Gururaja was the silver medallist at Gold Coast 2018 in the 56kg. This time he competed in 61kg which is an Olympic weight category and finished third to clinch India’s first ever Commonwealth Games medal in this weight category. 

Indian heavy weightlifter Vikas Thakur won a Silver in the men’s 96kg. The seasoned Thakur lifted a total of 346 kg to finish the second and claim his third Commonwealth Games Medal across three editions. 

Harjinder Kaur won Bronze Medal in the women’s 71 kg weightlifting competition against all odds after her competitor failed to lift clear clean & jerk attempts.

At last, Gurdeep Singh finished off India’s weightlifting campaign on high note with a Bronze Medal in the +109 kg.

Conclusion

The Weightlifting contingent clearly dominated most events of the Commonwealth Games 2022 which is a good sign for India in future. The likes of Jeremy Lalrinnunga, Achinta Sheuli, Sanket Sargar, Bindyarani Devi makes a good squad which is led by Mirabai Chanu. Though, there is still a need to tick further boxes to bag an Olympic medal but this Commonwealth Games has clearly shown the power of India’s Weightlifting. We can expect good show in future events. Asian Games wil take place in Sept-Oct next year and then one year later Paris Olympics is scheduled. With time in their side, these weightlifters can give us the moment of joy.