CWG'22: Jeremy opines on special gift received from Samoa's Vaipava Ioane after securing gold - Watch

Indian athletes have been on a roll in the ongoing Commonwealth Games (CWG) 2022editionin Birmingham. So far, the likes of Mirabai Chanu, JeremyLalrinnunga and few others have done the nation proud by winning medals in their respective sport.

Talking about the young sensation Lalrinnunga, the 19-year-old broke the CWG record in the men's 67kg category by lifting 140kgs in snatch and 160kgs in clean and jerk tobecome only thesecond Indian weightlifter to clinch the medal. Meanwhile, Samoa's Vaipava Ioane ended at thesecond spot with lifts of 127 and 166 kgs in the two rounds.

During the medal ceremony, Vaipava's special gesture for Jeremy made heads turn. Loane gifted his traditional Samoan garland to Jeremy and hugged the Indian teen sensationtightly.

Later, Jeremy dwelled on the special gesture from loane while speakingto the official Olympics website and pointed out, "Thoda thoda jaanta hai zyada nahi(He was my senior, but I knew him only a little, not that much).Unhone kuch unka traditional Samoa mein voh log bahut maanta hai, jo pehna that, voh gift diya mujhe(Vaipava was wearing the traditional Samoan garland, which he gave me as a gift)."

On the other hand, loane also revealed whathis gesture meant by saying, "It's a mark of respect, of friendship. It was my way of showing respect to the winner."

Jeremy further opined on his historic win and stated, "I am happy with my gold medal but I couldn't show my complete performance, how much hard work I have put in. We came in a month before and the training went really well. Unfortunately in the clean and jerk, I couldn't perform as much as I wanted to due to cramps, but I am happy."

"From here on, I'll look to give my everything to Paris 2024. I will have to work hard because I'd go into an upper category. So, I'd have to gain weight and train accordingly," he added.