'Mirabai Chanu is an inspiration for us': Pakistan's gold medal-winning weightlifter Nooh Dastagir Butt on CWG 2022 champion

Pakistan's weightlifter Nooh Dastagir Butt created history for his country at the Commonwealth Games 2022 when he clinched gold medal in the 109+kg category on Wednesday (August 3) in Birmingham. This is Pakistan's first gold medal in this edition of CWG and the first person who reached out to the weightlifter to congratulate him on making history was none other than India's champion Mirabai Chanu. Butt himself revealed in an interaction with the PTI. Chanu has been cheering his Indian teammates after she clinched gold medal in the 49 kg event on Day 1 of the Birmingham Games. So when the 109 kg final was on, she was there to cheer for Gurdeep Singh, who clinched a bronze at the same event.  

"It was such a proud moment for me when she (Mirabai) congratulated me and praised my performance," Butt said after winning the gold with a record lift of 405 kg. The 24-year-old Pakistani shattered all the three Games record -- 173 in snatch, 232 in clean and jerk and the aggregate.

#India __and #Pakistan __ together on the podium_ politics divide us Sports unite us.. Thats the tweet !#NoohDastagirButt#CommonwealthGames #weightliftingFinal #peace pic.twitter.com/dME9mctnR7 — Ahsan Chaudhary (@ahsan_ch6) August 3, 2022

"We look up to Mirabai for inspiration. She has shown us that, we from the South Asian countries can also win an Olympic medal. We became so proud of her when she won the silver at the Tokyo Olympics." Butt is also very close to Gurdeep as both of them know each other for past 7 to 8 years. "We have been very good friends for the last seven-eight years. We have trained together in abroad a few times. We are always in touch," Butt revealed about his friendship with the Indian weightlifter. He further said that, in weightlifting, it was not an India vs Pakistan battle but an individual fight to win the medal. 

India's weightlifting team finished CWG 2022 with a record 10 medals including 3 gold, 3 silver and 4 bronze.