Commonwealth Games 2018: 5 things you didn't know about India's latest CWG bronze medallist Deepak Lather

The Indian challenge at the Gold Coast 208 Commonwealth Games continued on Day 2 of the marquee event after two successes in weightlifting on Day 1. Mirabai Chanu smashed record aplenty and won the gold medal whereas P Gururaja won India's first medal at the Games when he clinched silver in the 56kg category.

That was followed up on early morning, Friday, as India's Sanjita Chanu won yet another gold in the Women's 53kg category. India's domination in weightlifting was further reaffirmed, as 18-year-old Deepak Lather lifted his way to a bronze medal in the Men's 69kg category.

As Lather marched his way to India's first bronze medal of the 2018 Commonwealth Games, we take a look at the story behind the teenage sensation from Haryana.

#1 A farm boy at heart

Deepak has grown up on the lush green farms in Shadipur, a village on the Rohtak-Jind highway in Haryana. He used to plough the field, cut weeds and gather crops during the harvesting season and continues to do so whenever he is back home. His father Bijender Lather has an acre of farmland where he grows wheat, mustard and fodder for the family and their cows.

#2 His father wanted him to be a wrestler

Lather's father had envisioned him to be a wrestler when Deepak was growing up. The young lad was always quite strong as he carried sacks of fodder on his back that were as heavy as him. At the tender age of nine, he had carried his tired mother home from the field, Incidents like this laid the foundation for his weightlifting prowess.

#3 Hometown didn't have a gym, Deepak had to move to Pune

Deepak's village Shadipur did not have a gym for him to train and thus Deepak found it tough to kickstart his sporting career. He went for trials at the Army Sports Institute and was selected for training in 2008 in Pune.

#4 Trained as a diver initially at the Army Sports Institute

When Deepak was selected in the trials for the Army Sports Institute, he was initially assigned to the diving team. He did not like it at all, and after a period of three months, he got to train in weightlifting and trained under foreign coach Juraj Gubala.

#5 National record at the age of 15

The National Institute of Sports in Patiala conducted the Senior Weightlifting Nationals and Deepak entered the trials when he was fifteen. He lifted 126kg in the Olympic Snatch in the 62kg category breaking a longstanding Indian record. He won the national championship with a total of 267kg at the event.