Ragala Venkata Rahul, braving pain and agony, was buoyed by his late mother's totem, to clinch the gold in the 85 kg weightlifting competition at the Commonwealth Games.
Rahul revealed that the black bead he was sporting around his left ear was actually his late mother's 'kaali mattelu" (anklet). "It was as a tribute to her. I have been wearing it since her unfortunate demise," Rahul says.
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The 21-year-old has been in severe pain over the last three months because of an injured left knee. "I was not training really hard but was very keen to compete as I have been waiting for these Games for long," he says.
"Even during the warm-up sessions here in CWG, I was not able to completely focus and was not in the best frame of mind. But, thanks to my coach Vijay Sharma, who encouraged me to go for it. So, I decided to give my best," he adds.
Rahul, however, regrets playing with the injury. "Or else, I was actually targetting to break a couple of records.
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"In terms of satisfaction this stands out. This is a very special gold for it happens to be my first ever medal in the CWG though I won the gold at the last Commonwealth Championship," he says.
Rahul dedicated the medal to his parents (his mother passed away two years ago). And one of the first things he did, after his stunning performance, was to call his father Ragala Madhu.
"He was delighted and said that all the sacrifices made by the family have finally paid off with this huge performance," the champion lifter says.
"Well, when I look ahead to repeat this performance in the coming Asian Games and the World Championship, this gold certainly gives me lot of confidence and motivation," he adds.
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