Weightlifting: It's a long way to come to fail at each attempted lift

By JOHN ROBERTS

During rehearsals for the parade of athletes at the opening ceremony, volunteers acted as standard-bearers for the 72 countries.

But instead of carrying flags, they trailed lengths of string representing the numbers in each team to help the organisers to time the event.

Having answered the age-old question - how long is a piece of string? - the volunteers missed an opportunity to save time by using an elastic band to group together the four competitors in the women's up to 58kg weightlifting event.

It is often said by people who know these things that there is no bigger disappointment in sport than losing in a semifinal, although there are obviously no kudos for a favourite who finishes second in a two-horse race.

We could only imagine what the atmosphere was like in the warm-up area at the Manchester International Convention Centre as Tyoni Batsiua, of the Republic of Nauru, Michaela Breeze, of Wales, Sunaina Sunaina, of India, and Maryse Turcotte, of Canada, prepared to pull their weight in the auditorium.

One would win gold, one would win silver, one would win bronze, and the other would be asked if her journey had been really necessary.

Horsemen of the Apocalypse formed a quartet, likewise gangs of politicians, but on Wednesday four was a crowd, even though Batsiua, Breeze, Sunaina and Turcotte comprised the lowest entry for any event in this eventful Commonwealth Games, which invited women weightlifters to participate for the first time.

Snatching and cleaning and jerking can be dodgy at the best of times, and it was all too much for the 20-year-old Batsiua, who will return empty-handed to Nauru's eight square miles and express her disappointment to the 10,199 other inhabitants of the island.

In short, she tried her best but failed to be credited with a single lift - nil points.

It might be said that Batsiua managed only to lift the pressure off her fellow competitors, although the trio were far too busy raising the loaded bar to take much notice.

Breeze won the gold for Wales in the snatch and Batsiua was still wondering if she would ever get the weights off the ground long enough to attract the interest of the judges.

The 23-year-old Breeze, who has set British records for snatch, clean and jerk, and total, won the snatch with a lift of 87.5kg. She captured a silver medal in the clean and jerk and a silver in the combined total (200kg).

Overall, however, the afternoon belonged to 27-year-old Turcotte, who took gold medals in the clean and jerk and for the combined total, and the silver medal after finishing second to Breeze on body weight in the snatch.

Breeze reached 87.5kg after two failed attempts. Turcotte reached 87.5kg on her second attempt. Breeze had the advantage in lower body weight. She was competing at 56.83kg, Turcotte at 56.95kg.

Sunaina won three bronze medals for India, whose day was made by Sanamacha Chanu, who won three golds in the 53kg category.

There were six competitors in this event. Two Australians, Natasha Barker and Seen Lee, both won two silver medals and two bronze, although we were all tempted to move back a row after Barker dropped the bar.

Kirstie Law, of Scotland, worked hard but finished fourth, and it was not a successful day for England: Dyana Altenor, who finished fifth, fell on her back after one failed attempt, and Joanne Calvino did not register a single lift.

A 34-year-old Indian, Kunjarani Nameirakpam, won all three gold medals in the 48kg category. These will be added to the 21 medals she has won from world championships, an impressive record, particularly since she was hampered by a knee injury in 1999 and was suspended for six months last year after testing positive for steroids.

Mary Hancock, a 44-year-old from Wales, who finished fifth of seven competitors, at least equalled her personal best (107.5kg combined) and also had the distinction of becoming the first woman to lift weights in the Commonwealth Games. She said: "I'm sure more women will now join the sport."

- INDEPENDENT

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