Commonwealth Games 2022 weightlifting: Vikas Thakur wins silver to complete hat-trick of CWG medals
The Indian weightlifter, who won the 85kg silver at Glasgow 2014 and 94kg bronze at Gold Coast 2018, finished with a silver medal in the 96kg at Birmingham 2022.
Indian weightlifter Vikas Thakur completed a hat-trick of Commonwealth Games medals after winning a silver in the men’s 96kg category at the Birmingham 2022 on Tuesday.
Vikas Thakur, who won the 85kg silver medal at Glasgow 2014 and 94kg bronze medal at Gold Coast 2018, registered a total lift of 346kg (snatch – 155kg; clean and jerk – 191kg) to secure a podium step at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) in Solihull.
Vikas Thakur looked in good form from the start, logging successful 149kg, 153kg and 155kg with his three snatch attempts.
However, with Samoa’s Don Opeloge and England’s Cyrille Tchatchet II logging 171kg and 158kg respectively in snatch, it seemed that the Indian might have to duke it out with Fiji’s Taniela Tuisuva Rainibogi for the equation change.
But the equation changed during clean and jerk with Cyrille Tchatchet II sustaining an injury during his first attempt and failing to log a single valid attempt, which meant he was unranked.
Vikas Thakur registered successful lifts of 187kg and 191kg respectively before faltering with his final attempt at 198kg. However, it was enough to finish over Rainibogi, who won bronze with 343kg (155kg+188kg).
Don Opeloge won the gold medal with a Games record total of 381kg (171kg+210kg).
This was India’s eighth weightlifting medal at Commonwealth Games 2022. Sanket Sargar (men’s 55kg silver), Gururaja Poojary (men’s 61kg bronze), Mirabai Chanu (women’s 49kg gold), Bindyarani Devi (women’s 55kg silver), Jeremy Lalrinnunga (men’s 67kg gold), Achinta Sheuli (men’s 73kg gold) and Harjinder Kaur (women’s 71kg bronze) are the other medallists.
"I was happy with my performance. I wanted that last clean and jerk but my aim was 155kg and 185kg. I made 155-191, so I’m pretty satisfied with my performance," said Vikas Thakur.
Punam Yadav fails to rank
India’s Punam Yadav, meanwhile, couldn’t rank in the women’s 76kg weightlifting event after failing to register a valid clean and jerk attempt.
Punam Yadav, who won the 63kg bronze at Glasgow 2014 before clinching the 69kg at Gold Coast 2018, had moved up to the 76kg for Birmingham 2022.
The 25-year-old Punam Yadav made a slow start in the competition and failed to successfully lift 95kg in her first snatch attempt. She, however, composed herself to come back and lift 95kg and 98kg in her second and third attempts, respectively.
Only Canada’s Maya Laylor, with 100kg, bettered Punam Yadav in the snatch section in an 11-woman field.
In the clean and jerk, however, Punam Yadav fouled her first two attempts at 116kg and needed a clean lift with her third to rank. This time, the Indian lifted the weight successfully but dropped the barbell before the referee gave a down signal, which deemed the effort invalid.
Article 2.4.3 of the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) rules states, “After the Referees’ signal to lower the barbell, the athlete must lower it in front of the body. The grip on the barbell must only be released when it has passed the level of the shoulders.”
In the women’s 87kg, India’s Usha Kumara also drew a blank after finishing sixth in the 11-woman field with a total lift of 205kg (95kg snatch; 110kg clean and jerk).
Australia’s Eileen Cikamatana, a gold medallist from Gold Coast 2018, was the runaway winner in the category, logging 255kg (110kg+145kg). Canada’s Kristel Ngarlem took silver with a 236kg (101kg+135kg) lift while Nigeria’s Mary Taiwo Osijo won bronze with 225kg (102kg+123kg).