Deepak Lather has clinched India’s fourth medal of the 2018 Commonwealth Games, a bronze in the men's 69 kg weightlifting event. The 18-year-old from Haryana also managed to break an Indian record in the process, become the youngest weightlifter from the country to ever win a CWG medal.
Competing in his first Commonwealth Games, Lather also holds the national record in the 62 kg category where he broke the national record at the age of 15.
He trained at the Army Sports Institute as a diver before being pushed into weightlifting by the coaches there.
Lather was placed a tied second after the ‘snatch’ round with Sri Lanka’s Indika C on top with a lift of 137 kgs. Lather and Wales’ Gareth Evens both lifted 136 kgs each.
However, the clean and jerk round provided much drama, with the Sri Lankan in the lead before Evens pulled off a lift of 163 kgs to seal the gold with a total weight of 299.
Deepak was placed third after both his rounds following lifts of 136kgs and 159kgs. A total weight of 295 kgs.
It was Samoa’s Vaipava Ioane who added the late tension with his clean and jerk lifts. He first lifted 167 kgs to climb to fourth, and then tried 175 kgs to go straight for the gold but could not complete the lift. The third and final attempt was again 175 kgs, a ‘gold medal or no medal’ situation. However, it did not go according to plan. The aborted lift kept him out of medal contention and Deepak eventually bagged the bronze.
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