Jeremy Lalrinnunga clinched second gold in weightlifting at the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham on Sunday. Jeremy was brilliant during the men's 67 kg weightlifting event.
The 19-year-old thrashed the opponents by lifting a total weight of 300 kg and also registered a games record.
"I completely blanked out and was clueless what was going around me. I was like blind and cried a lot (after the failed attempt)," Jeremy said after winning the gold.
"I never followed the other lifts, it was so painful. Crying out aloud, I asked the coach 'medal aya ke nahin?' (Did I get a medal?) coach sir told me 'gold hai hamara' ('you have won the gold) and it soothed my nerves."
"Coach sir (Vijay Sharma) was amazing, he managed all the weights and ensured that I landed the medal safely. He was very calculative, and there were never self-doubts."
"It seems I'm in a different world now and living a dream. It's my first major competition at the senior level after the Youth Olympics," he added.
Vaipava Ioane bagged the silver medal with an overall lift of 293 kg with 127 kg in snatch and 166 kg in clean and jerk. This means Jeremy was an indomitable winner with a gap of 7 kg in the first and the second spot. On the other hand, Edidiong Umoafia finished with the bronze medal by 290 kg lift with 130 kg in snatch and 160kg in clean and jerk.
Jeremy's best lift was registered in her second attempt of the snatch at 140 kgs. He lifted 136 kg in his 1st attempt. However, she failed to lift 143 kg in her third attempt.
When it comes to the clean and jerk, Jeremy lifted 154 kg in the first attempt, and 160 kg in the second attempt but failed to lift 165 kg in the third attempt.
Jeremy who belongs to Aizawl, Mizoram has represented India in the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires and Commonwealth Championships in 2021. He won gold in both the events.
Jeremy's gold added 5th medal in India's medals tally at Birmingham and 130th medal in India's weightlifting to date.
Earlier, Bindiyarani Devi bagged silver medal in 55 kg women's category, Mirabai Chanu won gold medal in women's 49 kg category, Gururaja Poojary clinched bronze in the 61 kgs men's category and Sanket Sargar bagged the silver medal in the 55 kg men's category making Chanu's medal the third one for the country.
