The last time Jeremy Lalrinnunga visited his home in Aizawl, Mizoram in June 2020, he was forced to stay away from his family to complete a mandatory quarantine period of 14 days. Despite staying at the sports training centre, which is only five minutes away from his home, he couldn't meet his parents and brothers given the protocols in the wake of the raging Covid-19 pandemic.
To add perspective to the issue, the lifter's journey had begun in 2012 when he started training at the Army Sports Institute in Pune. He was just nine then. He has rarely spent time with his family since then. All that can change, at least to some extent, once he returns from Birmingham, especially after his gold-winning effort at the ongoing 2022 Commonwealth Games on Sunday.
The 2018 Youth Olympics gold medallist shattered two Games records (140kg in snatch and overall lift of 300kg) to finish on the top of the podium ahead of Samoa's Vaipava Ioane (127kg +166kg=293kg) and Nigeria's Edidiong Umoafia (130kg+160kg=290) in 67kg weight category.
"I have not been to my home for the past two years. This time I will take a week off and spend some quality time with my parents and brothers," he said after the event. The medal haul, however, was preceded by an injury scare. Jeremy pulled his thigh muscles during the competition, giving an opening to his Samoan rival to catch him in battle for gold.
He lifted 154kg in his first clean and jerk (C&J) attempt, and followed it up with a successful 160kg lift an pulled his thigh muscles in the process. The Nigerian lifter was already out of gold contention with his best attempt of 160kg but the Samoan lifted 163kg in his first attempt to put pressure back on the Indian.
Jeremy went for 165kg in his last attempt but failed. On the contrary, Ioane set the Games record in C&J by lifting 166kg in his second attempt to narrow down the gap to 7kg. He though tried 174kg in his last attempt to overtake Jeremy but was unsuccessful.
"Due to it (muscle pull), I could not warm up properly. I informed coach Vijay Sharma about it and he then calculated the weights which I can lift. It's a minor injury and I will be ready for the next challenge soon," Jeremy added.
Earlier, the 19-year-old started in a dominating fashion in the snatch section as he lifted 136kg in his first attempt and improved it to 140kg, a Games record, in his next lift. He went for 143kg in his last attempt but couldn't succeed. The second-best lifter in the field, Umoafia's best lift was 130kg while Ioane, who was third by then, has the best lift of 127kg.
The big gap helped Jeremy in the clean and jerk section, especially after he suffered an injury in the second attempt.
Popy seventh
Meanwhile, Popy Hazarika finished seventh in the women's 59kg event, putting a brake on India's medal rush. The lifter from Assam had a total lift of 183kg (81kg+102kg). It was the first of the six weightlifting events so far that didn't yield a medal for India. Rafiatu Folashade Lawal of Nigeria won the gold with an effort of 206kg (90kg+116kg). Local favourite Jessica Gordon-Brown clinched the silver with an aggregate of 197kg (86kg+111kg) while Canadian weightlifter Tali Darsigny (87kg+109kg) took home the bronze.