'Still proud of you': Weightlifter Talha Talib misses out on Olympic gold but a hero is born

[Kaptaan]

Weightlifter Talha Talib's overall tally of 320kg was just 2kg shy of the haul that earned Italy's Mirko Zani the bronze medal. — Photo: AP

Weightlifter Talha Talib on Sunday missed out on a rare Olympic medal for Pakistan but turned plenty of heads as Pakistan finally took notice of him.


The 21-year-old lifter from Gujranwala, making his Olympics debut, took part in the 67kg category and held the gold medal spot until the final round before eventually being bumped down and denied a podium finish.


In the end, he finished fifth as China's Lijun Chen, Colombia' Luis Javier Mosquera Lozano and Italy's Mirko Zani captured gold, silver and bronze respectively.


Talib's lift of 151kg in Snatch category was the second-best of the round. He failed in his first Clean & Jerk attempt of 166kg and even though he was successful for the same weight in his next attempt and also cleared 170kg later, his combined total of 320 was surpassed by others, including Zani, who lifted jus 2kg more than Talib.



For a little while during Clean & Jerk, he was in the lead, giving his growing number of fans back home a glimmer of hope. Nonetheless, Talib's performance despite an obvious lack of resources turned him a hero as Twitterati showered him with praises and his name became the top Pakistani trend on the site.


Pakistan cricket team allrounder Shadab Khan said "Pakistan is proud of Talha Talib" as he urged "sponsors and sports administration to help athletes like Talha".





Pakistan Women's team member Javeria Khan said: "Win or lose, you have already made Pakistan proud."





Journalist Mehr Tarar let Talib know that "Pakistan is rooting for you."





Pakistan Super League franchise Islamabad United's General Manager Rehanul Haq shared an interesting bit about Talib.





TV anchor Gharidah Farooqi said that Talib's fifth-place finish was "no small feat given how this sports is neglected in Pakistan as compared to cricket".





Sports reporter Faizan Lakhani explained how Talib's journey was an against-the-odds story as "Talha wasn’t provided any special training programme even after his qualification."





Vetaran journalist Aalia Rasheed spoke for everyone as she tweeted: "Still proud of you Talha Talib!"





Test cricketer Azhar Ali said that Talib's performance "shows that if we invest more time and money into our athletes, they can do wonders".





Talib's journey to Tokyo Olympics was made possible after the International Olympic Committee accepted a request from the Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) and offered the young lifter an invitation place in -67kgs category.


He has clinched medals in Commonwealth (bronze), South Asian Games (gold) and International Solidarity Weightlifting Championship (gold), according to POA.

 

[TR_123456]

View attachment 26530
Weightlifter Talha Talib's overall tally of 320kg was just 2kg shy of the haul that earned Italy's Mirko Zani the bronze medal. — Photo: AP

Weightlifter Talha Talib on Sunday missed out on a rare Olympic medal for Pakistan but turned plenty of heads as Pakistan finally took notice of him.


The 21-year-old lifter from Gujranwala, making his Olympics debut, took part in the 67kg category and held the gold medal spot until the final round before eventually being bumped down and denied a podium finish.


In the end, he finished fifth as China's Lijun Chen, Colombia' Luis Javier Mosquera Lozano and Italy's Mirko Zani captured gold, silver and bronze respectively.


Talib's lift of 151kg in Snatch category was the second-best of the round. He failed in his first Clean & Jerk attempt of 166kg and even though he was successful for the same weight in his next attempt and also cleared 170kg later, his combined total of 320 was surpassed by others, including Zani, who lifted jus 2kg more than Talib.



For a little while during Clean & Jerk, he was in the lead, giving his growing number of fans back home a glimmer of hope. Nonetheless, Talib's performance despite an obvious lack of resources turned him a hero as Twitterati showered him with praises and his name became the top Pakistani trend on the site.


Pakistan cricket team allrounder Shadab Khan said "Pakistan is proud of Talha Talib" as he urged "sponsors and sports administration to help athletes like Talha".





Pakistan Women's team member Javeria Khan said: "Win or lose, you have already made Pakistan proud."





Journalist Mehr Tarar let Talib know that "Pakistan is rooting for you."





Pakistan Super League franchise Islamabad United's General Manager Rehanul Haq shared an interesting bit about Talib.





TV anchor Gharidah Farooqi said that Talib's fifth-place finish was "no small feat given how this sports is neglected in Pakistan as compared to cricket".





Sports reporter Faizan Lakhani explained how Talib's journey was an against-the-odds story as "Talha wasn’t provided any special training programme even after his qualification."





Vetaran journalist Aalia Rasheed spoke for everyone as she tweeted: "Still proud of you Talha Talib!"





Test cricketer Azhar Ali said that Talib's performance "shows that if we invest more time and money into our athletes, they can do wonders".





Talib's journey to Tokyo Olympics was made possible after the International Olympic Committee accepted a request from the Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) and offered the young lifter an invitation place in -67kgs category.


He has clinched medals in Commonwealth (bronze), South Asian Games (gold) and International Solidarity Weightlifting Championship (gold), according to POA.

Its time you guys start with the more important sports.
Just Cricket and Hockey doesnt cut it internationaly.
Btw,how many athletes did you send to the Olympics?

 

[Deliorman]

Pakistan is being represented by just 10 athletes in Tokyo and haven't won a medal since 1992... For a country of over 200 million that is quite bad.

The whole Subcontinent in general is doing quite poorly on the Olympics.

 

[Kaptaan]

Pakistan is being represented by just 10 athletes in Tokyo

Yes, I agree with you. Sadly cricket has sucked the limited resources of the country to the exclusion of other sports. Also I don't want to appear to come out as racist the most hardy people in Pakistan are to be found in the western half and extreme north. These regions are economically backward and the huge talent there is left to waste. Things are slowly moving in right direction but I think it will be few decades before we start making our mark.

A good example is boxing. 200 million and not much to show. But out of just 0.5 million Pakistani's in UK we have had Amir Khan. This is thanks to the opportunity and investment available in Britain. Boxing is not quite popular in Pakistan now.

@T-123456

 

[Kaptaan]

But honestly I can't believe you deem Ataturk as role model in the 21st century

Ataturkism is the pefect vaccine - better then Pfizer's jab against certain mental disease that I won't mention.