Commonwealth Games: Chalaev claims silver again

Stanislav Chalaev on his way to claiming Commonwealth Games silver. Photo / Getty Images

Another Commonwealth Games produced another silver medal for Kiwi weightlifter Stanislav Chalaev.

Four years after overcoming the loss of his mother to take the second step on the podium in Delhi, Chalaev shrugged off knee injuries to do likewise in the 105kg class in Glasgow this morning (NZT).

Chalaev also set a new personal-best record of 341kg - 155kg in the snatch and 186kg in the clean and jerk - to surpass the total he achieved in 2010, winning the Kiwi team's third weightlifting medal at these Games.

"I feel great and I feel very hyped up - I had a lot of caffeine today," Chalaev said. "So I'm just looking forward to unwinding with the rest of the team and celebrating with the gold and silver and bronze - we got the trifecta today."

The 27-year-old completed the team's set after Tracey Lambrechs took bronze earlier today and Richie Patterson - Chalaev's coach, flatmate and friend - won gold on Tuesday. And as satisfying as Patterson's triumph was the Kiwi team, Chalaev's silver will be just as pleasing.

The Russian-born lifter has entered only two competitions since his silver four years ago, hampered by persistent knee injuries that required surgery on each of the joints and saw him qualify for the Games only six weeks ago.

One of those two events was last year's Oceania Championships, where he finished second behind David Katoatau of Kiribati. The pair repeated that result today - providing Kiribati with their first medal at a Commonwealth Games - and Chalaev said he knew his rival's form made the top of the podium a difficult aim.

That's the position in which the Kiwi found himself following his final lift but Katoatau, the last man to take the stage, cleared the 194kg he needed on his first attempt.

"David and I used to compete at the Oceania level, so it's not like he's new to me,"
Chalaev said. "I knew, based on his previous rankings and lifts, that he was very well capable of 200. In fact, I thought he was going to do 207 today."

As it happened, Katoatau, with the gold already won, opted to entertain the crowd by making 200kg on his second attempt, before falling short on 205kg. The eventual 7kg winning margin provided comfort for Chalaev, knowing he had emptied his energy reserves and was left with no second guessing.

Considering it was a silver won, rather than a gold lost, Chalaev planned on a night of celebration - "I'm going to have a beer, let's just put it that way" - while there would be further reason to celebrate tomorrow.

Then he has a wedding to attend, that of Patterson and fellow Kiwi lifter Phillipa Hale, who will be tying the knot at the heritage-listed Pollok House, just outside of Glasgow.

"I'm very excited about that, very excited to see two of my friends get married," Chalaev said. "All the best for them and I'm just going to enjoy it."