Commonwealth champion Jeremy Lalrinnunga removed from the weightlifting national camp for not travelling to the USA for injury rehabilitation

Commonwealth Games gold medallist Jeremy Lalrinnunga has been weeded out of the national camp after he denied to travel to St. Louis in the United States of America for rehabilitation of a back injury. He would have undergone rehab under the supervision of Dr Aaron Horschig, a specialist in strength and conditioning, who is also looking after Olympic medalist Mirabai Chanu.

The young weightlifter also did not appear for the Asian Games and World Championship trials which was held in Patiala on June 30.

Indian Weightlifting Federation of India (IWLF) president Sahadev Yadav opened up on his exclusion pertaining to his decisions and actions. “When Jeremy was injured, we told him to move to St Louis immediately for rehab. We spoke in the ministry as he is eligible under the TOPS scheme, but he refused to go there,” Yadav told reporters.

Currently, Jeremy is injured and needs to rest for one and a half months therefore he did not appear at the trials. He will need some time to resume training and therefore he has no chance of making it to the World Championships and without that, he won’t be going to the Olympics as well next year.

“The injury occurred during training. He didn’t participate in the Asian Games and the World Championship trials. If he does not go to the World Championships he can’t go for the Olympics. That is the rule,” the IWLF president added.

Jeremy has been very unlucky with injuries as he suffered a back injury right after he won the CWG gold in Birmingham. He is now going through a knee injury and overall it has not been easy for him. Although Yadav rules out any disciplinary issue, he feels Jeremy was not focused enough. He feels that Jeremy has received a lot of money for winning many accolades at such a young age which has taken his focus away from the sport.

“I am very worried about him. The way he won a gold medal at the Youth Olympics, if he had continued like that he would have been at the top. But bache ka dhimaag kharab ho jata hai. (his mindset has gone bad). He got lots of money from CWG (after the gold), about a crore and the government gives money about Rs 50,000 every month. Fact is bigad gaya hai. (he is spoiled). I am sad, I want him to make a comeback but he needs to reform himself,” he opined.

Indian ace weightlifter, Mirabai Chanu also suffered a thigh injury but she is on the path of recovery and will participate in the World Championships and Asian Games. “Mirabai had an injury, she is undergoing rehabilitation in St Louis for that. She is 95 per cent fit now and training well,” Yadav said. “About a month-and-a-half ago, Mirabai had complained of a problem in her thigh.”

India is sending a four-member squad for the Asian Games which has Mirabhai Chanu (49kg), Bindyarani Devi (55kg), N Ajith Kumar (73kg) and Achinta Sheuli (73kg).