Irene Jane Henry Wins CWG Weightlifting Bronze

Debutant Irene Jane Henry etched her name into Malaysia's sporting history by ending a 16-year medal drought in women's weightlifting at the Commonwealth Games. Irene made a stunning international appearance with her third-place finish in the women's 48kg weightlifting competition. Her impressive act revealed great composure and skill on her performance and deliverance.

With a total lift of 167 kg consisting of 77 kg lift in snatch and 90 kg lift in clean and jerk categories, Irene took home bronze medal in the category of women's 48 kg weight class. Irene's performance fell behind Olympic silver medallist India's Mirabai Chanu Saikhom (190kg) and Nigeria's Ruth Asuquo Nyong (168kg).

The 21 years old Sabahan weightlifter was marked as the first Malaysian woman to achieve a Commonwealth Games weightlifting podium finish after a gap of more than a decade, after Raihan Yusof achieved a bronze medal finish in the 2010 Games in India.

Key Highlights:

• Irene Jane Henry ends Malaysia's 16-year wait for a Commonwealth women's weightlifting medal
• 21-year-old Irene wins bronze on her Commonwealth Games debut
• Irene sets a national snatch record as Malaysia returns to the weightlifting podium

The record-setting bronze medal is not only an end to Malaysia’s waits for any medal at the women's weightlifting event in the Commonwealth Games but also reflects the depth of development of the country in this discipline and on global sports stage.

The inaugural staging of the women's 48kg weightlifting event at the Commonwealth Games witnessed a record-breaking performance from India's Mirabai Chanu, whose lifts of 85kg in the snatch, 105kg in the clean and jerk, and a total of 190kg were all officially recognised as new Commonwealth Games records.

Although Irene came in third place, she said that she was disappointed not to win the silver medal by just a small margin after her performance at the SEC Armadillo on Sunday.

"I guess it just wasn't meant to be, even though I've successfully lifted 93kg many times before. Maybe I wasn't at my best physically," Irene said.

Irene went on to add that "Losing out on silver by just one kilogram really hurts, but I gave it my all.”I couldn't ask for another attempt because we only had three lifts, so I just had to accept the result."

After having a promising beginning to the competition, Malaysia looks to keep their good work going on with help of experienced weight lifter Aznil Bidin participating in men’s 65kg category.

Nonetheless, winning the bronze medal was arguably among the most successful times in the history of women’s weightlifting in Malaysia. However, in the last three Commonwealth Games, the best result that Malaysia could get was when Siti Aisyah Rosli got fourth place in the women’s 90kg category in the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games 2018.