“Happy for all the love that I have received from back home,” says CWG gold medallist weightlifter Jeremy Lalrinnunga

The Indian athletes continue to show their prowess at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and win laurels for the country. In that process, the Indian weightlifters have given the country a great start with Olympic silver medallist Mirabai Chanu leading the way and others following suit. Young lifters like Jeremy Lalrinnunga and Achinta Sheuli have also been successful in clinching the Gold medal at the global event.

Jeremy who is a Youth Olympics champion did prove his mettle with some exceptional confidence in his lifts. He came up with a 140kg lift in snatch and 160kg in clean and jerk hence breaking the 67men’s category record at the Commonwealth Games. Despite lifting 300kg Jeremy was thrilled but not entirely satisfied. “I am overjoyed to have won the gold medal, but I am disappointed with my performance. I expected to do better, but winning gold for my country is a source of great pride for me,” Jeremy said after winning the Gold medal.

The 19-year-old was very grateful and thanked people who supported him back at home and also the ones who physically came to the stadium. “Happy for all the love that I have received from back home. There were so many who came to see me here in the stadium as well and I just want to say thank you to everyone,” He added.

The Commonwealth Games gold medallist shared how Mirabai Chanu greeted him in Birmingham and always motivates him to do best. The teenager also shared how Chanu always act as a benchmark for these young lifters as they also want to push the boundaries and fulfill the Olympic dream.

“Didi (Mirabai Chanu) motivates me a lot. Before going into the competition, she met me and inspired me to do good. She was cheering for me from the very first row. I got to learn so many things from her whether it was about hard work and her journey to the Olympics and all. She guides us every time.” Jeremy added with a bright smile on his face.

The 19-year-old shared how after the gold at the Youth Olympics he has not won anything major as he shared how difficult it is to work with injuries and come back to the running. He shared how people used to ask him when he is going to win big at global events. “After the youth Olympics, I haven’t achieved such a big thing like this. This is my first medal at the senior level competition and I have had to face a few injuries.  People kept asking me, when are you going to bring medals after the youth Olympics. And I kept working hard to win a medal for my country. I couldn’t give the performance as I expected but I’ve achieved what I wanted to,” the young lifter revealed.

Jeremy Lalrinnunga won India’s fifth medal at the current Commonwealth Games and till now all six medals have come from weightlifters till now. Later another young lifter Achinta Sheuli joined Jeremy Lalrinnunga in the medal tally by winning India’s third Gold medal.