National Games: Jagdish, lifting for fun and on one leg

Dehradun: For a few seconds Jagdish Vishwkarma left spectators at the weightlifting hall in awe and in splits. Holding the barbell weighing 193kg aloft in clean and jerk, Jagdish gently raised his left leg and crossed it, letting out a roar. This was his unique way of celebrating the gold medal in 102kg competition at the National Games on Sunday.

His celebration remained the talking point for the rest of the evening in the weightlifting hall. “I have done it on a couple of occasions and fellow lifters now call it ‘Natarajan’ celebration,” says Jagdish.

The Services lifter achieved 152kg in snatch and 193kg in clean and jerk for a total of 345kg. A Commonwealth Championships bronze medallist, Jagdish set the national record in snatch (157) and overall (353) at the senior national championship last year. On Sunday, Vaishav Shahaji Thakur of Maharashtra set a national record in snatch with a lift of 160kg. However, he could lift only 175 in clean and jerk and settled for silver.

After confirming his gold medal, Jagdish tried to lift 197kg to improve his personal best in clean and jerk, but failed.

“It has become my pose to celebrate. I have done it a few times in Services competition and also in the nationals. I feel good. I try to show that I can lift the weight on one leg,” he laughs.

“I do it after the lift is cleared by the judges. It’s for a split second. You can drop it if you feel disbalanced, so there are no chances of getting hurt,” says the 30-year-old Army Subedar who trains at Army Sports Institute, Pune.

“The qualifying mark at the Asian Championships in China was 345 kg, so I wanted to lift it here and I am happy that I did it,” says Jagdish, who won bronze in the Commonwealth Championships in 2023 and also competed in the world championships.

Vaishav said: “We have all grown up watching Jagdish bhai, and breaking his record in front of him is a dream come true.”