No hat-trick of CWG medals for India’s Punam Yadav, fails to finsh in 76kg final

India’s Punam Yadav failed to clinch her third consecutive Commonwealth Games medal.

But what would disappoint the two-time CWG medallist more was the fact that she could not even get a position in women’s 76kg weightlifting final after three back-to-back failed attempts in the clean and jerk round. Pre-tournament favourite Canada’s Maya Laylor broke the Games record for clean and jerk (128kg) to take the gold medal. Nigeria’s Taiwo Liadi took silver while Maximina Uepa got Nauru on the board with a bronze.

The gold medal winner of 2018 Commonwealth Games, started off on the worst possible note by failing to lift 95kg in her first snatch attempt but recovered well to successfully lift the same weight in her second attempt and then went on to equal her personal best and national record of 98kg in snatch in the final attempt to keep herself in a medal hunt.

Just like her first attempt in snatch, Punam faltered in her first clean and jerk attempt failing to lift 116kg. But unlike the first round, she could not to recover in the next two attempts. Punam, in fact, had successfully lifted 116kg in her third attemp but in a moment of brain fade, she let the bar go before the down signal from the referees.

When Punam earned a bronze medal in 63kg at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, she made headlines as a multiple Asian junior medallist and Commonwealth junior champion. In addition to winning the Commonwealth Championship in 2015, she also bagged her first gold at the Commonwealth Games in 69kg in 2018 at Gold Coast, Australia. She has been gradually increasing her weight category in every CWG event.

Punam’s is also a fascinating story as she had re-launched her training stint within three months of giving birth to a girl in May 2020. Punam, who had built a gym at home in Mirzapur district, gave birth to little Priyanshi in May 2020 in a government hospital. Though private hospitals recommended a caesarean operation, both her husband Dharamraj and Punam insisted on a natural birth to ensure that her weightlifting career was not impacted.