Jeremy Lalrinnunga: With Commonwealth Games gold, India’s first Youth Olympic Champion marks his return-Sports News , Firstpost

Jeremy Lalrinnunga holds the gold medal at the Commonwealth Games podium in Birmingham on Sunday. AP

Kolkata: Becoming India’s first Youth Olympic Champion at the age of 15 and a Commonwealth Games gold medallist and record holder by 19, it’s nice to be Jeremy Lalrinnunga at the moment.

The 19-year-old Mizo lived up to his expectations in Birmingham on Sunday when he clinched India’s second gold medal, after Tokyo Olympic star Mirabai Chanu, with a record lift of 300kg (Snatch: 140 + Clean and jerk: 160). However, Sunday’s win didn’t come as smooth as experts expected with Jeremy’s might put to test with an unexpected injury.

For somebody, who is capable of lifting 167kg in clean and jerk in the past, Jeremy found his thigh muscle cramped right before the decisive last segment, forcing him to push his limits. It all came down to lifting 160kg on the day if Jeremy wanted to keep a fast-catching Samoa’s Viapava Ioane.

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Going through that pain, Jeremy still desperately wanted that gold as a major success has alluded him for four years now and this was his chance. However, the athlete felt confused with the calculations as to lifting how much weight should be enough to seal the top spot.

However, having his trusted coach Vijay Sharma (national weightlifting coach) by his side meant all he had to worry about was how to deal with the muscle cramp and focus on lifting the weight suggested.

“The muscle cramp hit me at a bad time, I am fine now but at that time the pain was difficult and made it difficult for me to judge on how much weight should I pick to ensure the gold in this condition. But I knew I could trust my coach in letting me know how much I need to lift in order to win the gold. I just followed his instruction because wherever I have reached today, it’s all because of him,” said Jeremy while answering a question by Firstpost during SAI’s media press conference.

Lifting 160kg turned out to be just enough as rival Ioane, who earlier lifted 127kg in snatch, was left with the huge task of pulling 174kg to win the gold medal. Despite his valiant attempts, the Samoan couldn’t breach the mark and had to console himself with the silver medal and clean and jerk Games record (166kg).

For Jeremy, the result meant the world. Since his 2018 Youth Olympic success in Buenos Aires, the teenager endured some tough times with knee and back injuries, which eventually hurt his rankings and subsequently a Tokyo Olympics spot.

He did give himself a bright start in the senior circuit with an Asian Championship silver medal in Thailand in 2019 but injuries soon crept in and took away the momentum that the lifter built since 2018. The COVID-19 pandemic did him no favour as being locked at the NIS Patiala camp with next to no training not only hit his growth but also made him feel homesick away from family in Aizawal in the hours of crisis that gripped the entire world.

Sport in Jeremy’s blood

Of course, missing his family made a lot of sense for a teenager but even more, if your father has been the biggest inspiration of your life and has always been the guiding force.

“My father (Lalneihtluanga) has been a great boxer and won a lot of medals (seven-time national champion),” Jeremy said before the CWG. “It came naturally to me to become a boxer but then my friends were taking up weightlifting, I decided to follow them as I loved the power that was involved in it. I was lucky to have Malsawma sir there, who taught me weightlifting.”

In a year’s time, Army Sports Institute coach Zarzokima saw the gifted weightlifter during a vacation in Aizawl and decided to shortlist the boy at just 9 for further nurturing as Jeremy had to leave his home and move to Pune.

Growing through the ranks at the ASI Pune while developing his skills, Jeremy eventually came across national coach Vijay Sharma who decided to speak to the boy about training him with the national team.

“I heard about him before and when I eventually saw him compete, I was really keen because he had the physique and technique for a weightlifter,” said Vijay during a frank conversation before the CWG. “What I liked about him more was that he was focussed and obedient. He was always willing to follow whatever I asked him to do and that’s what stands him apart from others.”

Click here for our complete coverage of the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

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