Damon Kelly wins weightlifting gold
Australian Damon Kelly won the final gold medal at stake in the weightlifting competition of the 2010 Commonwealth Games at the Jawaharlal Nehru Sports Complex in New Delhi on Monday.
The 26-year-old came from behind to rule the men's over-105kg category.
Trailing tournament favourite Itte Detenamo of Nauru after the snatch, Kelly gave his all in the clean and jerk to win the gold medal. The Australian made a career best lift of 221kg for a combined lift of 397kg.
Kelly actually had the same output as Detenamo at the end of the competition but he was awarded the gold medal as he was 3kg lighter than the Nauruan.
"I just did whatever I had to do to get gold. I thought I'd have a crack at the record when I could," said Kelly, who won a silver medal four years ago at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games. It was a sweet victory for Kelly, who finished runner-up to Detenamo
in this year's Oceania Championships.
Detenamo led the competition in the snatch after lifting 179kg. But the defending Oceania champion could only lift 218kg in the clean and jerk. Canada's George Kobaladze also lifted 218kg in the clean and jerk to win the bronze medal with a total lift of
386kg.
Local favourite Sarabjit Singh failed to impress after struggling in the clean and jerk. The Indian posted a fine performance in the snatch, lifting 169kg to climb to third place heading into the second session. But Singh lost his composure in the clean
and jerk, failing to lift 210kg thrice to kiss his medal hopes goodbye.
Australian Corran Hocking was also a disappointment. The Commonwealth record holder in the snatch struggled early in the contest and was forced to retire due to injury.
"In the first lift I felt it a bit, in the second I hurt it a bit. I think it's a soft tissue injury. This was always going to be my last competition, so this is it for me," the 30-year-old said.
Nigeria topped the weightlifting competition with three gold, two silver and three bronze medals. Samoa finished second with a 3-0-0 harvest while hosts India came in third with a 2-2-4 tally. Australia (2-2-1) placed fourth followed by Malaysia (2-1-2),
Canada (2-1-2) and Nauru (1-1-0). Other nations that won medals were New Zealand (0-2-0), Sri Lanka (0-1-1), Scotland (0-1-0), Wales (0-1-0), Seychelles (0-1-0), England (0-0-1) and Cameroon (0-0-1).
The competition will shift to powerlifting today with medals at stake in the men’s and women’s open categories.
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