GLASGOW, July 28 — “This is for my father.”
Those were the heartfelt words of national weightlifter Muhammad Erry Hidayat after ending his long wait for Commonwealth Games glory by capturing the men’s 79kg gold medal at the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games here.
The 26-year-old delivered a commanding performance at the Scottish Event Campus (SEC) Armadillo on Monday, lifting a total of 331kg – 147kg in the snatch and 184kg in the clean and jerk – to secure the title.
His 184kg clean and jerk and overall total of 331kg both established new Commonwealth Games records.
“Alhamdulillah, after competing in three Commonwealth Games, I have finally won the gold medal. This gold medal is for my father. He called me before the competition and asked me to bring home another gold medal for him, so I did it for him,” he told Bernama.
The victory, however, was far from straightforward. Muhammad Erry endured a tense moment in the snatch after his first two attempts at 147kg were ruled invalid. Needing to succeed on his final attempt to stay in contention, he held his nerve to complete the lift and advance to the clean and jerk.
“Today’s success is incredibly sweet, and the battle was truly extraordinary. Had I failed on that third snatch attempt, I might not have been able to compete in the clean and jerk. So, I gave everything I had in the clean and jerk to secure the overall total,” he said.
Reflecting on his comeback, Muhammad Erry said he relied on his training and experience after struggling in the opening discipline.
“I just reminded myself of how I trained. My personal best in the snatch is 153kg, so I kept asking myself why I was missing 147kg. I also didn’t expect my final clean and jerk to feel that difficult. Although my personal best is 187kg, lifting 184kg felt heavy. Perhaps I wasn’t used to the cold weather,” he said.
India’s Valluri Ajaya Babu settled for silver with a total lift of 330kg, comprising 149kg in the snatch and 181kg in the clean and jerk, while England’s Chris Murray claimed bronze with a total of 325kg after lifting 148kg and 177kg respectively.
The triumph carries special significance for Muhammad Erry, who followed in the footsteps of his father, Hidayat Hamidon, the gold medallist at the 1998 Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games.
His achievement also marks a remarkable turnaround after finishing without a medal on his Commonwealth Games debut at Gold Coast 2018 before winning silver in the men’s 73kg category at Birmingham 2022.
Muhammad Erry’s victory delivered Malaysia’s third gold medal of the Games, following the successes of teammates Mohamad Aniq Kasdan and Muhamad Aznil Bidin in the men’s 60kg and 65kg events respectively on Sunday. — Bernama