Commonwealth Games 2026: India have capped off their weightlifting campaign in Commonwealth Games 2026 by adding eighth medal to their tally as Lovepreet Singh produced a strong performance to clinch silver in the men’s 110+ KG final.
Although Lovepreet Singh had taken a significant lead from the outset to put himself in pole position to win gold, New Zealand’s David Liti swooped in to take the highest prize at the last hour. However, it’s worth exploring Lovepreet’s journey.
Commonwealth Games 2026: Who is Lovepreet Singh?
Born on September 6, 1997 in Amritsar, Punjab, the 29-year-old is an officer in the Indian Navy and started his journey in the sport with the Navy weightlifting team. He had reportedly started weightlifting at a tender age of 13 itself but struggled to get recognition at the national level. It was in 2017 that he was inducted in the Indian National camp after numerous years of hard work and been an important member of the same in the heavyweight category ever since.
He has won a handful of international medals, including silver at the Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships, gold at the Junior Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships in Gold Coast, Australia and bronze at the Asian Youth and Junior Weightlifting Championships in Kathmandu. Having won bronze at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, Lovepreet has gone one step higher to clinch silver on this occasion.
Meanwhile, the Punjab-born athlete lifted 168 and 173 KG in the first two snatch attempts in Glasgow, followed by 176 in the final one. With a 205 KG lift to start the clean and jerk, Lovepreet took the top spot with 381 KG. However, rolling the dice by attempting to lift 217 KG backfired as Liti lifted 223 KG to breeze past the Indian weightlifter, inching ahead in the gold race. Liti’s lift was no longer required as the gold had been sealed in his favour, edging Lovepreet by 1 KG.
Commonwealth Games 2026: Who are the other Indian medallists in weightlifting other than Lovepreet Singh
Before Lovepreet, Mirabai Chanu won gold in Women’s 48kg, Harjinder Kaur, Valluri Ajaya Babu (Men’s 79kg / 75kg category), Rishikanta Singh (Men’s 60kg), Raja Muthupandi (Men’s 65kg), and Gyaneshwari Yadav (Women’s 53kg) won silver.
The lone bronze went to Bindyarani Devi in the Women’s 55kg/58kg category.