Jeremy Lalrinnunga marked his name in the history books by claiming India’s first gold medal in the Youth Olympics history after lifting a total weight of 274 kg to bag the top spot in the men’s 62 kg category in the Buenos Aires on Monday.
A product of the Army Sports Institute, Lalrinnunga started with a 2 kg lead over Turkey’s Cancer Toptas following the snatch category, and begun the clean and jerk after all his competitors had finished all their three lifts. He finished with an 11 kg advantage over silver medallist Toptas after his initial lift of 142 kg that was followed by an impressive 150 kg lift in the third attempt to complete his overall lift of 274 kg.
A historic gold for Jeremy!
What a show by our 15 yr-old weightlifter #TOPSAthlete #JeremyLalrinnunga who won gold in men’s 62 kg at @BuenosAires2018 with an overall lift of 274 kg. It’s India’s 1st gold in any edition of the #YouthOlympics.#IndiaAtYOG #KheloIndia🇮🇳ðŸ‹ï¸â€â™‚ï¸ pic.twitter.com/eSACbVhiv5— SAIMedia (@Media_SAI) October 9, 2018
Lalrinnunga’s brilliant effort puts an end to India’s long wait for the shiny yellow metal. India had clinched a total of seven silver medals in the first two editions of the Games.
Shooters Mehuli Ghosh and Shahu Mane missed out on the gold in the women’s and men’s 10m Air Rifle events while Judoga Tababi Devi was defeated in the girl 44 kg final against Venezuela’s Maria Gimenez.