TASHKENT: Pakistan’s weightlifter Nooh Dastgir Butt has made history by setting a new record in the Asian Powerlifting Championship in Tashkent.
Butt competing in the 120+ kg category, lifted an impressive 400 kilograms in the squat event, setting a new Asian record. His outstanding performance secured him his first gold medal in the championship.
With competitions in the bench press, deadlift, and overall categories still ongoing, Nooh remains a strong contender for more honours.
Earlier, in October, the weightlifter made a spectacular debut in powerlifting by securing the title of Commonwealth Champion in the 120kg category. He lifted 370 kilogrammes in the powerlifting competition at South Africa’s Sun City.
Before this, he had already displayed his remarkable class, winning three gold medals and one bronze, cementing his status as one of the top powerlifters in the competition.
On 3 August 2022, he bagged Pakistan’s first gold medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games when he won the men’s +109 kg weightlifting event. He lifted 173 kg in the snatch category, and 232 kg in clean and jerk, both Commonwealth Games records, for a combined lift of 405 kg.
He also won the Hercules Columns event in the Pahlavon Mahmud Strongman Games 2024 in Uzbekistan in May.
Butt comes from the city of Gujranwala, Pakistan’s biggest nursery of weightlifters and wrestlers and has been lifting weights since the age of 11. By the time Butt turned 18, he had begun making headlines on the international stage.
