Overview
- Rishikanta Singh won silver in the men’s 60kg at the Commonwealth Games after posting a 264kg total, which included a Games snatch record of 121kg.
- A knee problem that troubled him in the week before competition limited his clean and jerk, where he managed 143kg after failing lifts at 148kg and 151kg.
- He became the first male weightlifter from Manipur to win a Commonwealth Games medal, raising the profile of men’s weightlifting in a state long known for female champions.
- Rishikanta’s rise began after selection to the National Sports Academy, followed by SAI pathways and a 2019 posting with the Indian Navy that provided financial stability and national coaching.
- His family’s poverty and his elder brother’s financial support were key to his journey, and his father’s ongoing treatment for blood cancer at AIIMS Jodhpur adds immediate personal and logistical demands on his recovery and training plans.