Gold Coast (Australia), Apr 7 (NIE): Sathish Kumar Sivalingam won the third gold medal for India in weightlifting as he lifted 317 kg in total, 144 kg in Snatch and 

173 kg in Clean-and-Jerk in Men’s 77 kg weightlifting at Commonwealth Games 2018 in Gold Coast.

It is his 2nd consecutive gold medal at Games, as he secured the gold in Glasgow in 2014, as well. It is India’s 5th medal so far in Commonwealth Games 2018, and all of them have come in weightlifting so far.

He faced a stiff competition from England’s Jack Oliver who remained on the second position, after a difficult clean-and-jerk round.

Sathish took the lead lifting 169kg in his first clean and jerk attempt after Oliver lifted 167kg. Sathish looked comfortable and confident going on to lift 173kg, while Oliver failed to lift 171kg in two attempts. This confirmed the Gold medal for Sathish.

Sathish, who hails from Vellore, Tamil Nadu, had won Gold at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow where his 149kg lift in snatch is still a Games record. "It (winning the gold) is life's turning point," Sathish had said after winning in Glasgow.

Sathish's weightlifting career started when he was 15, and it was his father Sivalingam, an ex-serviceman who is a national-level weightlifter who encouraged him to take the sport. "He played at the national championships but failed to win a medal at the international level," Sathish said after he won in Glasgow. "He wanted me to win a medal in a big international event."

He finished 11th at the Rio Olympics in a strong field and he would be eager to take this form and do better in Tokyo 2020.