It ain't over until it's over — the saying perfectly sums up the exciting yet so unpredictable climax of the women's 71kg weightlifting competition of the 2022 Commonwealth Games at the NEC Hall 1 in Birmingham on Monday night.
The moment Canada's Alexis Ashworth lifted 123kg in her final clean and jerk attempt, India's Harvinder Kaur was almost out of the medal contention. Suddenly, it appeared the Indian camp committed a blunder by underestimating the Canadian opponent. Before that lift, the duo was fighting for the bronze as the top two places were almost sure for local favourite Sarah Davies and Nigerian lifter Joy Ogbonne Eze.
But then came the twist in the tale. The 18-year-old Nigerian, whose best lift in snatch was 100kg (7kg more than the Indian and 9kg more than the Canadian), couldn't register a single valid lift in her three attempts at the clean and jerk section to go out of the reckoning.
Her ouster meant, Harjinder sneaked into the top-three bracket and finished third with a total lift of 212kg (93kg in snatch and 119kg in clean & jerk). Expectedly, Sarah walked away with the gold by setting Games records in all sections (103kg+126kg=229kg) while Alexis bagged silver by registering an overall lift of 214kg (91kg+123kg).
Speaking on the nail-biting finish, India's head coach Vijay Sharma said, "We were not expecting the Canadian to erase the difference but she proved us wrong. But we should never lose hope and as it turned out, the Nigerian girl, who was going strong till then, faltered in her all three clean and jerk attempts to ensure the medal for us."
Earlier, Harjinder started with a failed attempt to lift 90kg in the snatch section but bounced back to lift the same in her next. It was also her personal best in the snatch section. She then lifted 93kg in her third attempt to stay in contention for a podium finish. A silver medallist at last year's Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships, the Indian started the clean and jerk round with 113kg, went for 116 kg in the next attempt, and lifted 119kg on her third attempt.
Late bloomer
Unlike most of her compatriots from the Indian team, the 25-year-old Harjinder started weightlifting quite late. It was not till 2017 that she started pursuing the sport. In fact, when she met coach Paramjeet Sharma at the sports wing of the Punjabi University in Patiala, she wanted to enroll in tug-of-war.
The coach, however, had some other plans for her. "Given her body structure, I strongly felt she would be successful in weightlifting. And my instinct proved right. She is a brave girl and never shied away from working hard," the coach told this daily ahead of her event. Harjinder also pursued kabaddi before meeting Sharma.
Elder brother Pritpal Singh never had a doubt about her sister's potential and strongly believed coach Sharma channeled her energy in the right direction to make her a successful lifter. "She always wanted to be an athlete. But it was under Sharma sir she found the way. Today we all are happy that she is representing the country in the Commonwealth Games," said Pritpal.