Pakistan's Nooh Dastgir Butt wins gold at Commonwealth Powerlifting Championship

Pakistani weightlifter Nooh Dastgir Butt made a stunning international debut on Thursday at the Commonwealth Powerlifting Classic and Equipped Championships in South Africa, winning gold in the squat event, according to the Associated Press of Pakistan.

The Pride of Performance Award recipient and Commonwealth Games gold medalist lifted an impressive 370 kilograms in his first powerlifting competition at Sun City, becoming Pakistan's inaugural powerlifting gold medalist.

“Won gold medal at Commonwealth Classic Powerlifting Championships 2024,” Butt announced in an Instagram post, adding, “Stop me if you can, this Butt is not going to stop,” while expressing gratitude to his supporters.

Butt is set to compete in the bench press and deadlift categories, where he is expected to secure two additional gold medals and claim the overall championship title in the 120kg+ category. His goal is to bring home a total of four gold medals.

Hailing from Gujranwala, known as Pakistan’s biggest nursery of weightlifters and wrestlers, Butt began lifting weights at the age of 11. By 18, he was already making headlines internationally.

At the 2022 Commonwealth Games, he set new records in the snatch, clean-and-jerk, and total categories. “The credit for that goes to my father, who spent all these years training me,” he said.