Commonwealth Games: Gururaja Poojary dedicates bronze medal to wife over prolonged absence

Birmingham: Gururaja Poojary dedicated his bronze medal in Men's 61kg category of weightlifting at the 2022 Commonwealth Games to his wife on Saturday. Gururaja, the silver medalist at 2018 Gold Coast Games, finished third in 61kg to clinch India's first ever CWG medal in this weight category.

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"I want to dedicate this medal to my wife. We got married last year. I have been in camps a lot since, so would like to dedicate this to her. She supported me a lot in this period," he said after the medal win.

"I'm very happy. Today went well for me. I am grateful to Sports Authority of India (SAI) and those behind the TOPS scheme."

#TeamIndia's Gururaja Poojary dedicates his #B2022 in the men's 61kg weightlifting to his wife Soujanya‍♂️ @GuruRajaPoojar1 | #EkIndiaTeamIndia pic.twitter.com/vBERI93vLv

— Team India (@WeAreTeamIndia) July 30, 2022

He lifted 151kg in his final clean and jerk attempt to to seal the bronze with a total lift of 269kg, edging out Canada's Youri Simard (119kg).

Upon arrival in Birmingham, Gururaja was down with fever and could not give his best in training.

"I'm very happy with my performance. I could not train properly and had a fever, knee and wrist pain. Looking at the way, it was a very good effort."

He further credited national coach Vijay Sharma for motivating him to go past the Canadian rival in the clean and jerk.

"He egged me on and told me to 'give my best, otherwise all my sacrifices of leaving home and staying alone would go in vain'. It really motivated me and I went for the bronze," he said.

"I hope this is just the beginning for me and I will improve from here onwards looking at the Paris Olympics," he stated.

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