Commonwealth Games 2022: Weightlifter Gururaja Poojary won the second medal for India at Commonwealth Games 2022 after he bagged a bronze medal in the men’s 61kg event, here on Saturday.
Poojary successfully pulled off a combined lift of 269kg, (118kg in snatch and 151kg in clean and jerk) to claim a podium finish at Birmingham 2022. This was also his second straight CWG medal after he won the men’s 56kg silver medal at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in Australia.
“I was under pressure after lifting 148kg, as he had a 1kg lead. ‘151kg will get a medal, otherwise I won’t win a medal for the country’ — I had to think like this and put it in my head that if I have to do anything, I’ll have to lift this and show the world,” Gururaja told media.
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He reavealed that in the last four years he had changed his category from 56 kg to 61 kg and explained why he did.
“After 2018, I changed my category and prepared for 61kg. I only played Nationals for 1-2 years, I couldn’t compete in international competitions. In 2021, I joined the camp and that’s where my journey in international competitions started in the 61kg category,” Gururaja said.
“The Olympic weight category changed from 56kg to 55kg. I used to control my body weight to play the 56kg category. It’s a good thing the category changed, because I used to get injured. After the category changed, I was able to perform also and avoid injuries in the 61kg category,” he said.
