'I put my best foot forward': Liti powers to weightlifting gold in Glasgow

Weightlifter David Liti has become a two-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist after winning the men’s 110kg+ division, capping off a memorable day for New Zealand in Glasgow.

Liti set a Games record by lifting 223kg to edge out India’s Lovepreet Singh to secure his third consecutive Commonwealth Games medal, after gold in 2018 and silver in 2022.

The flagbearer for the opening ceremony had to dig deep but managed to successfully complete the lift, throwing the bar on the mat before jumping with joy with his coach Tina Ball.

After receiving his medal, members of New Zealand’s team performed a haka for Liti.

Speaking to Sky Sport after his gold, Liti admitted there was a huge sense of relief coming away with the gold.

“Crazy, crazy, processing this whole thing,” Liti said. “I knew coming into this competition, it would be tough, but I put my best foot forward, that’s all I could give.

“My snatching hasn’t been great for this build-up. Once the clean and jerk came around, this guy [Singh] better go far, because if he doesn’t, I’m going to hunt him down.”

Liti is the first New Zealand weightlifter to win three Commonwealth Games medals, which is something he’s proud of.

“It is something that I strive to be is the best ever weightlifter from New Zealand,” Liti said.

“There’s a lot of things that goes into that, but I just hope to inspire the next generation to do something different, go out there and just give it a crack and put your best foot forward.”

Overall, New Zealand won seven medals on day seven, which also saw Emma Foy and pilot Jessie Hodges win gold in the Women’s Para-Sport B tandem sprint, while Tom Walsh had to settle for silver in the men’s shot put.

Walsh, seeking a third straight Commonwealth Games gold, went big early, throwing 21.03m with his first attempt.

He kept hold of the lead until the penultimate round when Nigeria’s Chukwuebuka Enekwechi edged ahead with a 21.07m.

Walsh had one last throw but couldn’t improve his mark, as he claimed a fourth career medal at the Commonwealth Games.

Walsh admitted the nerves got the better of him at the end.

“It wasn’t what I came in to do and I wasn’t probably up to the task that I needed to be up to today, which is a little frustrating,” Walsh told Sky Sport.

“If I’m going to lose it to someone, losing it to Chuck’s not a bad way to do it. But definitely not the distance or the feeling that I wanted to do out there.

“I warmed up well and then the nerves got to me a bit too much. I just didn’t handle them the way that I wanted to. Nerves obviously mean that you care and you want to do well and I just didn’t look after them. I couldn’t control them, I guess I couldn’t use them as positive energy.

Walsh then became quite emotional talking about his family.

“Between me and my team we set some pretty high standards and today I wasn’t where I wanted to be ... I know that I am a better thrower than that,” Walsh said.

“I’m just really looking forward to spending some time with them. I’ve been away for six weeks and it’s been a pretty tough time, so looking forward to seeing them.”

Anna Grimaldi added New Zealand’s fourth athletics medal with a bronze-medal run in 100m T47 final. Canada’s Sheriauna Hasse won the gold in 12.23s. Compatriot Chloe Dunbar was second in 12.33s, with Grimaldi’s bronze-medal effort in 12.46s a season best.

It was the mixed opening day at the velodrome for New Zealand, with Foy and Hodges taking the only gold in the women’s Tandem B sprint.

Emma Foy, right, and pilot Jessie Hodges of New Zealand on the podium after receiving the Commonwealth gold medal in the omen's Tandem B sprint. Photo / Photosport

The duo bounced back from a fall in the opening race to take out the final two races and beat Australian Jessica Gallagher and pilot Jacqueline Mengler-Mohr. The Kiwi duo made the early jump with three laps to go and powered to a big lead which the Aussies couldn’t run down.

The women’s sprint team were heavily favoured after a silver at the Paris Olympics but finished fifth in qualifying, which meant they didn’t ride for a medal.

The women’s pursuit team qualified for the gold-medal race and finished 2.117s back from Australia as the foursome of Bryony Botha, Ally Wollaston, Prudence Fowler and Samantha Donnelly took silver. The men’s pursuit team of George Jackson, Tom Sexton, Marshall Erwood and Daniel Morton would have been disappointed with missing out on the gold-medal ride in qualifying, with the third-best time considering they were champions four years ago and had two World Cup wins earlier this year.

The New Zealand women's pursuit team of Bryony Botha, Samantha Donnelly, Prudence Fowler, Emily Shearman, Ally Maree Wollaston with their Commonwealth Games silver medals. Photo / Photosport

Wales gave them a scare in the bronze-medal race, leading for the opening half of the race before New Zealand pulled away with two laps to go. England stunned Australia in the gold-medal race.

New Zealand’s fourth medal went to Nicole Murray in the individual pursuit C4-5, winning her bronze-medal ride by a massive margin to beat Australia’s Erin Normoyle.

Murray finished in 5m 06.199s, just under her time in qualifying, to win by 28.430s, which set a world record in the new category which was later broken by gold medallist Tara Neyland.

New Zealand remains eighth on the medal table with five golds, nine silver and seven bronze.