Indian Weightlifter Sathish Kumar Bags Gold Medal To Qualify For 2018 Commonwealth Games

Olympian and Commonwealth Games gold medalist S. Sathish Kumar, added another feather to his cap by winning the gold medal in Men’s 77kg at the ongoing Commonwealth and Oceania Youth, Junior and Senior Weightlifting Championship in Australia. The twenty-five-year-old from Tamil Nadu lifted a total weight of 320 kg (snatch - 148kg, clean & jerk - 172 kg) here at the Carrara Indoor Stadium in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia to also secure direct qualification to the 2018 Commonwealth Games, Gold Coast, Australia in April.

Sathish had been training for months as part of the National Camp for weightlifters in Patiala and this is his 4th medal at the Commonwealth Championships since 2012. Sathish is also an Arjuna Awardee, having been conferred the recognition by the President of India in 2015. He was one of 20 elite Indian athletes chosen to receive support from the GoSports Foundation earlier this year through their Rahul Dravid Athlete Mentorship Programme 2017-18. The Foundation is complementing the work of the Government and the Federation by supporting Sathish with his sports science requirements, including access to sports nutritionist and injury management experts.

Earlier, the day before, fellow GoSports weightlifter Jeremy Lalrinnunga had clinched 2 golds (in Jr and Youth categories) by lifting a total weight of 240 kg (snatch - 109kg, clean & jerk - 131 kg). The talented 14-year-old from Mizoram had earlier this year won silver at the 2017 IWF Youth World Championship in Bangkok, Thailand. Jeremy is supported by the GoSports Foundation through the Abhinav Bindra Targeting Performance Programme, and is one of 28 young and emerging athletes being guided on their long-term efforts to win medals for India at the 2022 Asian and Commonwealth Games and 2024 Olympics.