GLASGOW, July 28 - National weightlifter Muhammad Erry Hidayat delivered a gold medal for Malaysia after winning the men’s 79kg category at the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games today.
The victory earned Muhammad Erry his first Commonwealth Games gold medal, improving on the silver he won in the men’s 73kg category at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.
The 26-year-old secured the title with a total lift of 331kg, comprising 147kg in the snatch and 184kg in the clean and jerk. His clean and jerk lift and overall total also set new Commonwealth Games records.
India’s Valluri Ajaya Babu took the silver medal with a total lift of 330kg (149kg in the snatch and 181kg in the clean and jerk), while England’s Chris Murray claimed bronze with a total lift of 325kg (148kg in the snatch and 177kg in the clean and jerk).
The triumph was made even more meaningful as Muhammad Erry followed in the footsteps of his father, Hidayat Hamidon, who won gold at the Kuala Lumpur 1998 Commonwealth Games.
“This is for my father,” he said, after the win.
“Thanks to God, 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.
“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.
Muhammad Erry delivered Malaysia’s third gold medal after teammates Mohamad Aniq Kasdan and Muhamad Aznil Bidin won the men’s 60kg and 65kg categories, respectively, on Sunday.
