Jeremy Lalrinnunga Gold CWG: Moaning in pain I was asking whether I got the medal or not… Jeremy Lalrinnunga you are really a hero

At the age of just 19, Jeremy Lalrinnunga raised the tricolor at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, winning the gold medal, making two records. In the presence of his idol Mirabai Chanu, Jeremy dominated the snatch but the tough competition in clean and jerk made it an exciting contest. He developed convulsions during the clean-and-jerk attempt, and the tension in his thigh and leg muscles increased his anxiety.

Jeremy said after winning the gold, ‘I had no idea what was happening around me. I felt like I couldn’t see anything and cried a lot (after a failed attempt).’ He said, ‘I never watch other lifters perform, it was very painful. Crying out loud, I asked the coach, ‘Is there a medal or not?’ Coach sir told me ‘gold hai hamara’ and it gave me some peace.’

This weightlifter said, ‘The coach sir (Vijay Sharma) was brilliant, he managed all the loads and made sure I secured the medal. It’s like I’m in a different world now and living a dream. This is my first major competition at the senior level after the Youth Olympics.

Let us tell you that young weightlifter Jeremy Lalrinnunga won the second gold medal for India at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games on Sunday with two new sports records. Youth Olympic champion Jeremy dominated the men’s 67kg category with a total of 300kg (140kg and 160kg). He beat Samoa’s Waipawa Niewo Ion 293kg (127kg and 166kg) and Nigeria’s Ididiong Joseph Umoafia 290kg (130kg and 160kg) who bagged silver and bronze medals respectively.

19-year-old Jeremy from Aizawl holds the snatch (140 kg) and total weight (300 kg) records for the Games. During this, he also avoided injury as he appeared to be in severe pain twice during clean and jerk attempts. Jeremy lifted 140 kg in his second attempt at the snatch to gain a massive 10 kg lead over his nearest rival Ididiong and set a new Games record. He started with an effort of 136 kg.

Jeremy tried to lift 143 kg in his last attempt but failed. He was trying to improve on his personal best of 141 kg (Commonwealth Championships Tashkent, December 2021). Jeremy, the winner of the 2021 Commonwealth Championships in clean and jerk, started with a lift of 154kg and lifted 160kg in his second attempt. He could not lift 165 kg in his last attempt. This is India’s fifth medal in weightlifting. Earlier, Mirabai Chanu (Gold), Sanket Sargar (Silver), Bindiyarani Devi (Silver) and Gururaj Pujari (Bronze) won medals on Saturday.

He had to make the tough decision of switching from his ‘first love’ boxing to weightlifting but after joining the Sena Sports Institute, he did not look back. Jeremy said, ‘I still box in the ring and I love it, but due to the passion of my fellow friends, I chose weightlifting.’ Jeremy won a silver medal in the 56 kg weight category at the World Youth Championships in 2016 and then won another silver at the 2017 World Championships.

In the 2018 Junior Asian Championships, he won the bronze medal. The real journey begins for Jeremy as he prepares to enter the Olympic weight category of 73kg. He said, ‘I know now that it is a different level. I have to improve a lot and the hardest part is gaining weight. If all goes well and I am injury free, then I should be there for the Paris Olympics.

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