Who is Jeremy Lalrinnunga, India’s 2nd weightlifting gold winner at CWG 2022

Weightlifting has been one of India’s most successful sporting disciplines on the world stage. Saikhom Mirabai Chanu has become India’s poster woman for Indian weightlifting in recent years, after her consecutive Commonwealth Games and Olympics medals. However, the country has seen a boom in the sport, as many young athletes are coming to the fore in the discipline.

Jeremy Lalrinnunga is one of the brightest young Indian weightlifters who has only recently come to attention. Only 19 at the time of his Commonwealth Games 2022 participation, Jeremy won the gold medal in the men’s 67kg event. However, most of his life is still under a veil of darkness as he continued India’s rich tradition in weightlifting at the Commonwealth Games. Let’s take a look at who he is and how he caught the attention of many.

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Born on October 26, 2002, in Aizawl, Mizoram, Jeremy is one of the youngest members of the Indian contingent at the Commonwealth Games 2022. Coming from a family where sports is deeply embedded, as his father was a national level boxer, with all his four brothers also part of different sports, Jeremy accompanied his father for boxing training, before beginning training himself. Whilst a former national boxer, his father worked as a PWD labour, which forced necessity to become passion in Jeremy’s life.

While he chose boxing earlier in his life, he became interested in weightlifting. The young lifter began weight training at a SYS academy in his village. A few years later, his coach Malsawma Khiangte notified him of the Army Sports Institute trials, where he became selected.

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Whilst he is a funny character, Jeremy becomes very serious when he is competing in an event. He first came under the limelight when he won the silver medal at the World Youth Championships in 2016 in the 56kg category. In the next year, he won another silver medal at the same tournament, before going on to win a silver and a bronze medal at the 2018 Asian Championships.

2018 was a memorable year for Jeremy, who was selected to represent India at the 2018 Youth Olympics in Argentina. He repaid the trust shown in him, as he became the first Indian athlete to win a gold medal at the Youth Olympics. He lifted a total of 274kg (124kg+150kg) at the tournament. He continued his success at the Asian Weightlifting Championship as well, where he clinched the silver medal.

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However, he wasn’t as successful at the 2019 World Weightlifting Championships, as he finished at the 21st spot in the men’s 67kg category.

His weightlifting medal at the Commonwealth Games 2022 means Jeremy has won 14 medals in his career, including the gold medal at the Youth Olympics. Jeremy aims to represent the country at the Olympics, while that is a distant dream, but not impossible now.