CWG 2022: Mizoram’s Jeremy Lalrinnunga wins Gold after setting Games record

19-year-old Jeremy Lalrinnunga from Mizoram won a Gold medal in the men's 67kg weightlifting at the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham. Jeremy achieved a new Commonwealth Games record of 300kg overall in his debut outing (140kg snatch and 160kg in clean and jerk).

It was India's second gold medal at CWG 2022 after Tokyo Olympics silver medalist Mirabai Chanu defended her Commonwealth Games title in the women's 49kg weightlifting on Saturday.

Jeremy was standing tall with a salute to the Indian flag as the national anthem was played in Birmingham. He was a proud young man on the top step of the podium after having put behind a period of tough times in the last year due to injuries and health issues.

However, Jeremy had done enough with his 160kg lift to win gold ahead of Samoa's Vaipava Nemo (293kg - 127 snatch, 166 clean and jerk (GR)) and Nigeria's Edidiong Joseph 290kg (130kg snatch and 160kg clean and jerk).

It's GOLD 🥇 for 🇮🇳#IND's Jeremy Lalrinnunga wins gold medal in the men's 67 kg snatch event 🏋️‍♂️#TeamIndia | #Cheer4India | #B2022 | #CWG2022 pic.twitter.com/g7ZNQE2LGv

— Doordarshan Sports (@ddsportschannel) July 31, 2022

Jeremy, who won gold at the Commonwealth Championships in December last year, could not accomplish his personal record (141kg snatch, 167kg clean and jerk), but the 19-year-old will only grow from here after experiencing victory at the highest level.

Jeremy, who took home the gold medal in the Youth Olympics in 2018, was disappointed to learn that he had to withdraw from the Tokyo Olympics due to a knee injury he sustained while competing in the Asian qualifying tournament.

Jeremy, who won the Youth Olympics gold medal in 2018, was disheartened after missing out on qualifying for Tokyo Olympics last year as he had picked up a knee injury during the Asian qualifying event wherein he finished a disappointing 8th.

The failure, meanwhile, just encouraged Jeremy to strive harder. With a photo of the Birmingham gold medal as his phone wallpaper, Jeremy set out to achieve his target. And today, Jeremy accomplished his goals, bringing honour to India.