Dhanush Loganathan won India’s first medal at the 2024 Junior World Weightlifiting Championships as he bagged the bronze in men’s 55kg in Leon, Spain on Thursday.

Dhanush, who was crowned the 49kg World Youth Champion last year, lifted a combined total of 231kg for the bronze medal.

Vietnam’s K Duong (253kg) and Japan’s Kotaro Tomari (247kg) took the gold and silver medal respectively.

Interestingly, Dhanush started the competition in Group B – top medal contenders usually compete in Group A. The lifters in Group A failed to perform as per expectations and the Indian found himself on the podium.

A total of 14 athletes across the two groups had registered a start weight higher than Dhanush’s 225 kg, but failed to lift successfully.

Dhanush also bagged a bronze medal in snatch with a lift of 107kg, while he finished 13th in clean and jerk with a successful lift of 124kg.