Olympian Talha Talib wins Pakistan’s first medal at World Weightlifting Championship

Pakistan’s ace weightlifter Talha Talib won the country’s first ever medal at the World Weightlifting Championship on Friday by winning a Bronze at the snatch event in the 67kg category.

Although the 22-year-old weightlifter from Gujranwala wasn’t at his best and looked to be struggling due to niggles, he still managed to create history for Pakistan in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

He lifted 143kg in his first attempt in the snatch event in the 67kg competition. His following attempts of lifting 146kg and 147kg were unsuccessful, but the lift of 143kg in the first attempt was enough for him to secure a medal for Pakistan.

Unfortunately, Talha Talib couldn’t continue his run in clean and jerk events and missed all three attempts aiming to lift 165kg, subsequently missing another certain medal.

Had he managed to successfully lift what he had aimed for, he would’ve also managed a podium finish in the overall competition as well.

Earlier this year, Talha Talib represented Pakistan at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics where he had fell just two kilograms short of history as he lifted a total of 320 kilograms.

Talha, competing in the 67kg men’s weightlifting contest, was on top of the race for a while before being surpassed by athletes from China, Colombia, and Italy in final attempts.

The 21-year-old weightlifter — first from Pakistan in 44 years at Olympics — entered the competition without a coach, yet he showed his mettle.

The fourth-placed participant from South Korea lifted 321 kilograms, while the Marko Zanni of Italy bagged bronze with a total lift of 322 kilograms — 145 in snatch and 177 in clean and jerk.

Colombian Luis Javier Mosquera won silver with with a total lifted weight of 331 kilograms, while Chinese Chen Lijun won gold with a total lifted weight of 332 kilograms.

Last year, Talha won the Bronze medal in same category at the Asian Championship. The performance earned him a place at Tokyo Olympics, where he finished 5th.

The performance at the Olympics brought him into the limelight and the country’s sports authorities assured him full support for future events.

Earlier, Pakistan’s two other weightlifters in the championship — Sharjeel Butt and Abubakar Ghani couldn’t make their mark.

Next in action from Pakistan at the tournament will be Hanzala Dastagir Butt in the 109kg competition on December 16 and Nooh Dastagir Butt in the 109+kg competition on December 17.