Weightlifter Sathish Kumar defends his Commonwealth Games

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Arriving into the Games in Gold Coast, Australia, as one of the medal favourites, Indian weightlifter S. Sathish Kumar lifted a total weight of 317 kg (144 kg snatch and 173 kg clean & jerk) to claim his second gold medal at a Commonwealth Games and defend his title that he claimed at the 2014 edition in Glasgow,Scotland.

However, the medal was no straightforward effort this time; Sathish was battling multiple injuries in the months leading up to the Games, making the uncertain victory even sweeter. After his event Sathish said:

“I feel so proud today. I worked very hard in the last few years but managing injuries has been the biggest challenge. There were many difficult moments, especially over the last 2 months, but my coach Vijay Sharma stuck by me and kept me motivated. It also helped that the Weightlifting Federation of India sent us to Australia around 30 days before our events to get acclimatised to the environment here. It really helped us, and the results given by the Indian weightlifting contingent shows that.”

Sathish was training in the National Camp at Patiala before moving with the team to Melbourne from March 8 for a more focused training. He eventually changed his base once again to the Games village in Gold Coast.

“I would like to thank a few more important people for my achievement - the GoSports Foundation team, who sent a strength and conditioning coach Varun Shetty, to Patiala and then to Australia to be with me and monitor my loads along with my coach. They also facilitated my consultations with the Indian badminton team physio Kiran Challagundla, here in Australia, and all of them worked tirelessly, including my coach, till the very last day to ensure that I was ready for the event.”