Sivalingam finishes 11th, India’s weightlifting campaign at the Rio Olympics ended in disappointment

India’s weightlifting campaign at the Rio Olympics ended in disappointment with Sathish Kumar Sivalingam finishing 11th in the men’s 77kg event on Thursday. National record holder Sivalingam lifted 148kg in snatch and 181kg in clean and jerk for a total of 329kg to finish fourth in the six-lifter Group B category competition.

After the Group A competition was over, he stood overall 11th in the field of 14 lifters.
Sivalingam, who had a won gold in the 2014 Commonwealth Games, holds the national record of 336kg (149+187) in men’s 77kg. Group B is meant for lower-ranked competitors who have registered lower entry weights and by finishing fourth even in this category, Sivalingam has no chance to be on the podium.

Group A of the same event is competed among higher-ranked lifters who have registered with higher entry weights. Kazakhstan’s Rahimov Nijat clinched the gold with a total lift of 379kg (165+214), while China’s Lyu Xiaojun and Mahmoud Mohamed were second and third with a total of 379kg (177+202) and 361kg (165+196) in Group A event.The other Indian lifter, Saikhom Mirabai Chanu had failed to even lift her entry weight of 104kg in clean and jerk to end her 48kg category event as DNF.