Talha Talib clinches National Games gold upon return from doping ban

KARACHI: Olympian Talha Talib made a ground-breaking return to professional weightlifting as he clinched the National Games' gold medal in the 79kg men's category here at the Muhammad Siddique Memon Scout Auditorium on Thursday.

Talib rose to fame due to his spirited performance at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where he narrowly missed securing a position on the podium.

He backed his spirited outing at the Games with a bronze medal at the World Weightlifting Championship, held in Tashkent in 2021, signifying his status as the country's weightlifter on the rise.

His budding career, however, was later hit by a massive roadblock as he returned a positive dope test, conducted by the International Testing Agency along with the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF), and was thus slapped with a three-year ban.

Talib decided against challenging the result and instead issued a written apology to the Pakistan Weightlifting Federation (PWF), stressing that it could be an "unintentional mistake".

After serving his three-year suspension, Talib made his long-awaited return to the weightlifting circuit at the ongoing 35th National Games and immediately made a statement by clinching the gold medal in the 79kg men's category.

The 26-year-old lifted 150kg in snatch, followed by 180kg in clean and jerk and thus, an overall lift of 330kg earned him the top honour in the discipline.

Following his ground-breaking performance on the return, Talib, in an exclusive interview with Geo News, shared that he continued his training throughout the ban and credited his family and friends for keeping him motivated in continuing his passion amid waves of negativity.

"I did not stop training during the suspension. I used to train twice every day. It was difficult to stay positive during the ban. I often thought about quitting weightlifting, but my friends and family encouraged me," Talib stated.

After a dream return, Talha Talib also revealed his future plans, sharing that he was now targeting the upcoming international competitions, including next year's Commonwealth Games and Asian Games, followed by the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.

The Gujranwala-based weightlifter, however, rued the unavailability of the state-of-the-art gym for training and claimed that he could deliver better results if provided the required facility.