Glasgow, Jul 27: Weightlifter Gyaneshwari Yadav continued India’s medal rush, clinching a silver as records were broken left, right and centre in a riveting women’s 53kg competition at the Commonwealth Games here on Monday.
The 23-year-old from Bhondiya village in Chhattisgarh totalled 199kg (88kg snatch + 111kg clean and jerk) but Nigeria’s Onome Omolola Didih stole the show with a stunning 206kg (93kg + 113kg), rewriting both the Commonwealth and Commonwealth Games records to take the gold.
Gyaneshwari equalled her personal best in the snatch (88kg) and set new personal best in the clean and jerk (111kg) and total (199kg).
“I am very happy, I wanted to give my personal best and I have been able to do that,” Gyaneshwari said.
The Chhattisgarh weightlifter used to compete in the 49kg weight class, which was synonymous with Tokyo Olympic silver medallist Mirabai Chanu.
“Mira didi has been an inspiration and when she won the gold I was invigorated. If she can do it in 48kg I can too,” she added.
For Gyaneshwari, the silver was the culmination of a journey built on her father’s unfulfilled sporting dream. Deepak Yadav had once aspired to become a bodybuilder before financial hardship forced him to give up the sport. Years later, working as an electrician, he ensured his daughter never had to abandon hers.
“My father used to do bodybuilding but due to our poor financial condition, he had left it. We moved from the village to the city,” Gyaneshwari had told PTI.
She initially took up powerlifting before falling in love with Olympic weightlifting.
“Earlier I used to do powerlifting but then when I saw that the weight goes up in weightlifting I was very interested. So, I told my father I wanted to do weightlifting and he was supportive of it,” she said.
The family endured difficult times during the COVID-19 pandemic, when even buying supplements became a challenge.
“Papa works as an electrician so it was a bit difficult. Supplements are expensive and it was really difficult during COVID. But my dad never gave up and here I am. All these medals are for him.”
What unfolded at the SEC Armidilo on Monday was an absorbing duel between two young lifters refusing to blink. Almost every successful attempt forced officials to scramble for a new Games record as Gyaneshwari and Didih traded blows in a contest that kept the packed arena on its feet.
Gyaneshwari was elegance personified in the snatch. All three of her lifts were clean, composed and almost effortless, the bar travelling overhead in one smooth motion as she stayed firmly in touch with the Nigerian.
The clean and jerk, however, turned into a spectacular game of one-upmanship.
The Indian ignited the contest by lifting 107kg, setting a new Commonwealth Games record. The applause had barely subsided before Didih marched onto the platform and erased it with 110kg.
Gyaneshwari refused to surrender. Egged on by Indian supporters, she dug deep to hoist 111kg, reclaiming the Games record.
The lead, though, lasted barely a minute.
Didih coolly called for 113kg, completed the lift and once again sent the record books into revision, sealing the gold in the process.
It was India’s fourth weightlifting medal of the Games and the country’s fifth overall.
Coming from a state where weightlifting is hardly a mainstream sport, Gyaneshwari admitted she was unsure whether she had chosen the right path until winning a medal at the 2022 Junior World Championships.
“I started weightlifting but I was not sure if I would succeed. But when I won a medal in the Junior Worlds last year, I got the belief that yes I can do it,” she said. (PTI)
