Weightlifter Sathish claims second successive CWG gold

The Indian lifted a total of 317kg and was so ahead of the competition that he did not go for his final clean and jerk lift.

Sathish Kumar Sivalingam has bagged his second consecutive gold medal in Commonwealth Games having also done so in the Glasgow Games.

Defending champion weightlifter Sathish Sivalingam (77kg) claimed India’s third gold medal in the Commonwealth Games, coming out tops comfortably here today.

 

The Indian lifted a total of 317kg (114kg+173kg) and was so ahead of the competition that he did not go for his final clean and jerk lift.

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However, it was a fascinating contest of one-upmanship between Sathish and eventual silver-medallist Jack Oliver of England in the snatch competition.

The two kept upping the weights before their attempts but Oliver managed to keep his nose ahead at the end of snatch as he lifted 145kg in his second attempt. It was a kilogram more than Sathish’s final attempt.

However, Sathish had the last laugh quite comfortably in clean and jerk after Oliver failed two attempts of 171kg and settled for a total of 312kg (145kg+167kg).

“I feel so proud today. I worked very hard in the last few years but managing injuries has been the biggest challenge. There were many difficult moments, especially over the last 2 months, but my coach Vijay Sharma stuck by me and kept me motivated.

"It also helped that the Weightlifting Federation of India sent us to Australia around 30 days before our events to get acclimatised to the environment here. It really helped us, and the results given by the Indian weightlifting contingent shows that," said Sathish after he successfully defending his gold medal from the Glasgow Games. 

“I would like to thank a few more important people for my achievement - the GoSports Foundation team, who sent a strength and conditioning coach Varun Shetty, to Patiala and then to Australia to be with me and monitor my loads along with my coach. They also facilitated my consultations with the Indian badminton team physio Kiran Challagundla, here in Australia, and all of them worked tirelessly, including my coach, till the very last day to ensure that I was ready for the event.”

The bronze medal went to Australian showman Francois Etoundi, who lifted 305kg (136kg+169kg). Etoundi injured his shoulder after his final lift.

At the 2014 Commonwealth Games, Sathish won the gold medal with 149kg snatch and 179 kg clean and jerk lifts, totalling 328kg. His lift of 149kg in snatch continues to be the Games record.

He is also the reigning Commonwealth Championships gold-medallist.