Pakistan’s weightlifter Noah Dastgir Butt creates history for my country Commonwealth Games 2022 When he won the gold medal in the 109+ kg category on Wednesday (August 3) in Birmingham. This is Pakistan’s first gold medal in this edition of CWG and the first person to reach out to the weightlifter to congratulate him on making history was none other than the champion of India Mirabai Chanu, Butt himself revealed in a conversation with PTI. Chanu is encouraging her Indian teammates after winning the gold medal Medal in the 49kg event on the first day of the Birmingham Games. So when the 109kg final was underway, she was there to cheer on Gurdeep Singh, who won a bronze medal in the same event.
“It was a proud moment for me when she (Mirabai) congratulated me and praised my performance,” Butt said after lifting 405 kg to win the gold. The 24-year-old Pakistani broke records in all three sports – 173 in snatch, 232 in clean and jerk and overall.
#India __And #Pakistan _together on the podium_politics divides us,sports unites us..that’s the tweet!#Nooh Dastagir Butt#Commonwealth Games #weightlifting final #peace pic.twitter.com/dME9mctnR7
— Ehsan Choudhary (@ahsan_ch6) 3 August 2022
“We look to Mirabai for inspiration. She has shown us that, we can win Olympic medals from South Asian countries too. We were very proud of her when she won silver in Tokyo Olympics.” Butt is also very close to Gurdeep as both have known each other for the last 7 to 8 years. Opening up about his friendship with the Indian weightlifter, Butt said, “We have been very good friends for the last seven-eight years. We have trained together abroad several times. We are always in touch.” He further added that, in weightlifting, it was not an India vs Pakistan fight, but an individual battle to win a medal.
India’s weightlifting team finished CWG 2022 with a record 10 medals including 3 Gold, 3 Silver and 4 Bronze.