Pakistan’s ace weightlifter Talha Talib Friday won the country’s first ever medal at the World Weightlifting Championship by winning a bronze medal at the snatch event in the 67kg category.

Although the 22-year-old weightlifter from Gujranwala wasn’t at his best and looked to be struggling due to niggles, he still managed to create history for Pakistan in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

He lifted 143kg in his first attempt in the snatch event in the 67kg competition. His following attempts of lifting 146kg and 147kg were unsuccessful, but the lift of 143kg in the first attempt was enough for him to secure a medal for Pakistan.

Unfortunately, Talha couldn’t continue his run in clean and jerk events and missed all three attempts aiming to lift 165kg, subsequently missing another certain medal. Had he managed to successfully lift what he had aimed for, he would’ve also managed a podium finish in the overall competition as well.

Last year, Talha won the Bronze medal in same category at the Asian Championship. The performance earned him a place at Tokyo Olympics, where he finished 5th.

The performance at the Olympics brought him into the limelight and the country’s sports authorities assured him full support for future events.