Weightlifter Vikas Thakur won silver in the men’s 96kg final, giving India its second medal of the day and maintaining the country’s love affair with weightlifting at the Commonwealth Games 2022. 

HIGHLIGHTS

• Vikas Thakur won the silver medal in the men’s 96kg category Weightlifting event
• The Indian weightlifting contingent have now won eight medals at Birmingham 2022
• This is Vikas Thakur’s third Commonwealth Games medal

India’s Vikas Thakur won the silver medal in the men’s 96kg category Weightlifting event at the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham on Tuesday. Vikas lifted a combined weight of 346kg(155kg in the Snatch and 199kg in the Clean and Jerk) to finish second. This is Vikas Thakur’s third Commonwealth Games medal as he won silver in Glasgow 2014 and bronze in Gold Coast 2018.

Samoa’s Don Opeloge 381kg (171kg+210kg) bettered his 2018 silver by clinching gold with a record-breaking performance. Fiji’s Taniela Tuisuva Rainibogi walked away with the bronze with a total effort of 343kg (155kg+188kg). Thakur, a five-time Commonwealth Championships medallist, had three clean lifts of 149kg, 153kg and 155kg to be in joint third position after the snatch round. In the clean and jerk section, Thakur started off with a 187kg lift, which he executed perfectly. His second attempt was of 191kg , which took some effort, but the Punjab lifter was able to pull it off and celebrated it with a ‘thigh-five’ made popular by Indian cricketer Shikhar Dhawan.

The Indian weightlifting contingent have now won eight medals at Birmingham 2022, with Mirabai Chanu, Jeremy Lalrinnunga, Achinta Sheuli, Sanket Sargar, Bindyarani Rani, Gururaja Poojary, Harjinder Kaur and Vikas all securing podium finishes.