Commonwealth Games gold medalist Nooh Dastgir Butt on Tuesday set two new records in the National Powerlifting Championship.
Butt broke his own records by lifting 330kg weight in the squat category and 208kg weight in the bench press category.
Speaking after the event, Butt said that athletes who have won medals should be provided training facilities. Had they been provided proper training facilities, he said, the athletes who won medals in Commonwealth Games would also have won medals in Olympics.
He said the government should investigate why he was not sent to Olympics. He said he was neither given camps nor sent abroad for training. He said he regretted not being part of the Paris Olympics. He said it would not be difficult to win a medal in the Olympics if he is provided training.
Last year, Butt was not allowed to participate in Asian Games and Paris Olympics for allegedly being part of a parallel weightlifting interim committee. He denied the allegations and said that he wanted to continue representing Pakistan in future.
Taking to Instagram, the Commonwealth Games gold medalist expressed reservations at his exclusion from the weightlifting event by the Pakistan Weightlifting Federation (PWLF).
“I, unfortunately, won’t be able to participate in future weightlifting competitions — be it National Games (2023) or international competitions like Asian Games (2023) or Olympic Games (2024) — as I have been alleged to be a member of a parallel weightlifting interim committee by the Pakistan Weightlifting Federation (PWF). As a result, I won’t be given an opportunity or platform to participate in future competitions,” Butt said.
