chris murray

Chris Murray celebrates after winning a Gold Medal during the Men’s 81kg Weightlifting Competition at The NEC on day four of the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. Image provided by PA/Alamy.

Weightlifter Murray wins Commonwealth Games gold

Alumnus Chris Murray set a new Commonwealth Games record on the way to winning gold in the Men’s 81kg weightlifting final.

The Sport and Exercise Science graduate posted a combined total of 325kg (144kg snatch; 181kg clean & jerk) to take victory ahead of Kyle Bruce of Australia in second and Canada’s Nicolas Vachon in third.

The 23-year-old’s gold is Loughborough’s thirteenth medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, with its athletes achieving five gold, five silver, and three bronze.

 “I can’t sum it up. I’ll be in my room tonight still not being able to put it into words. It’s truly incredible,” Murray said.

“To come out and hit personal bests on the biggest stage, I’m so overwhelmed with that feeling and I didn’t even care what medal I got at that point because I’d done what I needed to do.

“You can’t ask for any more than personal bests. The coaching team did an amazing job at guessing the weight that I needed. They were right and thank goodness they were.”

Loughborough’s dedicated 2022 Commonwealth Games website features all the latest news, videos, and medal tables from Birmingham.

Notes for editors

Press release reference number: 22/151

Loughborough is one of the country’s leading universities, with an international reputation for research that matters, excellence in teaching, strong links with industry, and unrivalled achievement in sport and its underpinning academic disciplines.

It has been awarded five stars in the independent QS Stars university rating scheme, named the best university in the world for sports-related subjects in the 2022 QS World University Rankings and University of the Year for Sport by The Times and Sunday Times University Guide 2022.

Loughborough is in the top 10 of every national league table, being ranked 7th in The UK Complete University Guide 2022, and 10th in both the Guardian University League Table 2022 and the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2022.

Loughborough is consistently ranked in the top twenty of UK universities in the Times Higher Education’s ‘table of tables’ and is in the top 10 in England for research intensity. In recognition of its contribution to the sector, Loughborough has been awarded seven Queen's Anniversary Prizes.

The Loughborough University London campus is based on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and offers postgraduate and executive-level education, as well as research and enterprise opportunities. It is home to influential thought leaders, pioneering researchers and creative innovators who provide students with the highest quality of teaching and the very latest in modern thinking.

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