India’s Bindyarani Devi overcame the challenge of competing in a higher weight category to clinch bronze in the women’s 58kg weightlifting event, while Nigeria’s Rafiatu Folashade Lawal shattered Commonwealth records to win gold at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow on Monday.
COMMONWEALTH GAMESJULY 27: Updates
The Birmingham 2022 silver medallist, competing in the 58kg category after moving up from 55kg, finished with a total of 199kg (87kg in the snatch and 112kg in the clean and jerk) to become a two-time Commonwealth Games medallist. It was India’s fifth weightlifting medal of the Games.
World championships silver medallist Lawal was in a class of her own, rewriting the record books with a Commonwealth and Games record of 103kg in the snatch before setting another Games record of 126kg in the clean and jerk for a winning total of 229kg. Canada’s Ann-Sophie Taschereau claimed silver with an aggregate of 215kg (87kg and 128kg).
Bindyarani stayed in medal contention throughout the competition despite trailing the leading pair. She successfully lifted 83kg, 85kg and 87kg in the snatch to finish fourth at the halfway stage before finding herself in a battle for bronze with England’s Eliza Pratt, who eventually finished fourth with a total of 196kg (87kg and 109kg).
The Manipuri lifter’s opening clean and jerk effort of 110kg was initially ruled successful but overturned on review for bending and re-extending her arms during the lift. She responded by clearing 112kg on her next attempt after another determined effort but could not complete 116kg in either of her final two attempts, eventually clinching the bronze medal.
Bindyarani had won silver in the women’s 55kg category at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in 2022, where she also set a Commonwealth Games clean and jerk record of 116kg. Her latest podium finish marked another impressive chapter in her Commonwealth Games career despite stepping up to a higher weight division.
WHO IS BINDYARANI DEVI?
Born in Imphal, Manipur, on January 27, 1999, Bindyarani began her sporting journey in taekwondo before switching to weightlifting in 2013. She trained at the Sports Authority of India’s North Eastern Regional Centre in Imphal, progressed to the National Centre of Excellence and earned a place in the national camp at Patiala in 2019.
She made her mark by winning the IWLF Youth National Championships in 2016 before claiming gold at the Khelo India Youth Games in 2019. The same year, she won her first major international title at the Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships with a total lift of 183kg. In 2021, she added silver at the Commonwealth Championships and won clean and jerk gold at the World Weightlifting Championships in the women’s 55kg category.
Bindyarani’s breakthrough on the Commonwealth Games stage came in Birmingham in 2022. She lifted a Commonwealth Games record 116kg in the clean and jerk to finish with a total of 202kg and claim silver in the women’s 55kg event.
Her progress was interrupted by knee injuries in 2023, with problems in both knees affecting her training. During her recovery, she briefly returned to the non-Olympic 55kg category before moving back to the 58kg division after regaining full fitness.
She returned strongly in 2025, breaking Mirabai Chanu’s national snatch record with an 88kg lift at the National Games while also setting national records in the clean and jerk and total lift. Later that year, she registered a personal-best total of 206kg (91kg in the snatch and 115kg in the clean and jerk) to win silver at the Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships in Ahmedabad, earning her place in India’s squad for the Glasgow Commonwealth Games.
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