Even as he basks in the glory of his stunning success in the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, weightlifter Sathish Kumar Sivalingam is not out of touch with reality.
Sathish was an unknown face when he entered the competition in Scotland. However, after claiming the 77kg gold medal in style, the 22-year-old has won a lot of fans. Now facing the challenge of getting ready for another major competition amidst mounting expectation, Sathish knows that it won’t be easy for him in the Incheon Asian Games starting from September 19.
The weightlifting team had a three-week stint in Birmingham before moving to Glasgow for the CWG.
After returning from Scotland, the lifters are still trying to get used to the change in climate and advanced time zone at home. “I am still feeling sleepy. There is hardly any time left for recovery and training. Yet, the challenge of adjusting to the new conditions (in Incheon) is there,” Sathish told The Hindu from his training base at Patiala on Thursday.
The new lifting star explaining why Indian lifters fail to shine in the Asian Games said, “it is very difficult to control your body weight for a long period of time, especially when you have to take part in back-to-back events. We also attend various felicitation functions and the training gets affected.”
The Vellore-based athlete was still hopeful of giving India its first lifting medal in the Asiad in many years. “The Iranian, Chinese, Korean and Kazakh lifters pose a strong challenge in the Asian Games. At present, I cannot think of improving my performance. If I manage to repeat my CWG performance of 328kg in Incheon, then I should be within the medal bracket.”
In the 2010 Guangzhou Games, Kazakh lifter Dauren Shauyeteyev had done a 310kg to bag the 77kg bronze medal. Sathish had lifted a total of 328kg to take the top honour on his Commonwealth Games debut.
Away from his training, Sathish is enjoying his newly-acquired star status. “Before winning the Commonwealth Games medal, I was just another person on the social networking sites. After my achievement, I am flooded with numerous wishes and friend requests. I do not know how I am going to deal with so many admirers when go back to my State (Tamil Nadu),” said Sathish.
