Watch: Lovepreet Singh breaks national record to win Commonwealth Games 2022 bronze medal

The Indian weightlifting squad is making headlines at the Commonwealth Games 2022 every day and 24-year-old Lovepreet Singh was no different, as he won the bronze medal in the men’s 109kg event on Wednesday. The Punjab-born athlete lifted a total of 355kg (163kg in snatch and 192kg in clean & jerk) to claim the bronze medal, behind Cameroon’s Junior Periclex Ngadja Nyabeyeu and Samoa’s Jack Hitila Opeloge in the top two spots respectively.

Lovepreet Singh began the event strongly, lifting 157kg, 161kg and 163kg in his three attempts in the snatch category. This meant that his third and final snatch attempt of 163kg was deemed as his best in the event. At the end of the snatch event, he became the second highest lifter among all participants.

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However, it was the subsequent clean & jerk event that caught the attention of many. Lovepreet began the category with a 185kg lift in his very first attempt, which he successfully lifted. He went on to lift 189kg and 192kg in his second and third attempts, breaking the national record in the clean & jerk.

Watch his nation record-breaking lift here:

However, it was not enough for the young Indian weightlifter to claim a higher spot on the podium, as it was Cameroonian lifter Junior Periclex Ngadja Nyabeyeu who claimed the gold medal with a total lift of 361kg, six kilograms more than Lovepreet. Samoan weightlifter Jack Hitila Opeloge clinched the silver medal with a total lift of 358kg.

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Lovepreet Singh, who first came to attention in 2017, following winning the bronze medal in Asian Junior Weightlifting Championship in Nepal, made his debut at the Commonwealth Games in the 2022 edition. He has also become the ninth Indian weightlifter to win a medal in the ongoing edition and took India’s tally to 14 on August 3.