Gyaneshwari wins silver after record-setting duel with Nigerian at Commonwealth Games

 

Weightlifter Gyaneshwari Yadav extended India's medal streak Monday, July 27, winning silver in a thrilling women's 53-kilogram competition at the Commonwealth Games that saw records fall repeatedly.

The 23-year-old from Bhondiya village in Chhattisgarh totalled 199 kg and 88 kg in the snatch and 111 kg in the clean and jerk but Nigeria's Onome Omolola Didih took gold with a total of 206 kg, rewriting both the Commonwealth and Commonwealth Games records.

Gyaneshwari matched her personal best in the snatch and set new personal bests in both the clean and jerk and her overall total.

"I am very happy, I wanted to give my personal best and I have been able to do that," she said.

The result marked India's fourth weightlifting medal of the games and its fifth medal overall.

The competition at the SEC Armadillo unfolded as an absorbing back-and-forth between the two lifters, with nearly every successful attempt prompting officials to update the games record. Gyaneshwari was composed throughout the snatch completing all three lifts cleanly to stay level with the Nigerian.

The clean and jerk turned into a rapid exchange of record-breaking lifts. Gyaneshwari opened with 107 kg setting a new Commonwealth Games record altogether, only for Didih to better it moments later with 110 kg. Gyaneshwari responded with 111 kg to reclaim the record but Didih sealed gold with a final lift of 113 kg, once again rewriting the record books.

Gyaneshwari previously competed in the 49-kg category, an event long associated with Tokyo Olympics silver medalist Mirabai Chanu.

"Mira didi has been an inspiration and when she won the gold I was invigorated. If she can do it at 48 kg I can too," she said, referring to Chanu by an affectionate term meaning "older sister."

For Gyaneshwari, the silver capped a journey rooted in her father's own unfulfilled athletic ambitions. Her father, Deepak Yadav once aspired to become a bodybuilder before financial hardship forced him to abandon the sport. He later worked as an electrician to support his daughter's career.

"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 competed in powerlifting before shifting to Olympic-style 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.

She said the family struggled financially during the COVID-19 pandemic when even basic supplements were difficult to afford.

"Papa works as an electrician so it was a bit difficult. Supplements are expensive and it was really difficult during COVID-19 pandemic. But my dad never gave up and here I am. All these medals are for him," she said.

Gyaneshwari said she initially doubted her choice of career 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.

 (With inputs from PTI