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Kota Kinabalu: Sabah’s Sukma-bound athletes took two early gold medals on the opening day of the National Weightlifting Championship 2024 being held in Segamat, Johor on Friday.

Nineteen-year-old Irene Jane Henry, a student from the Malaysia Sabah Sports School here who captured the gold in the women’s 45kg category by lifting 72kg in the clean and jerk event, also set a new national record in the snatch with 60kg, bettering the old record by one kilogramme.

The other gold won in the morning sessions was by Adrianne Jane Sarin from Kinarut with a lift of 51kg in the snatch event, clean and jerk at 60kg in the women’s 49kg category.

The State contingent also won two more bronze medals from 13-year-old Ellma Suzie Henry (snatch 30kg, clean & jerk 42kg) in the women’s youth 45 kg category, and Velerick Martin (snatch 95kg, clean & jerk 115kg) in the men’s senior category.

Sabah are represented by an 18-member squad for the three-day event. 

Sabah Weightlifting Association president Philip Gisan had earlier said their main priority is to give their Sukma athletes the opportunity to compete so as to evaluate their performance, effectiveness of their training programmes, while the youth participants are given exposure in their effort to develop the sport.