Nooh Dastgir Butt – Tragic Tale of Pakistan’s Gold Medalist

Glory in Exile

Descending from a prominent Kashmiri weightlifting family and hailing from the much-acclaimed wrestling city of Gujranwala, Nooh Dastgir Butt was always earmarked for a special career. With his father not only supporting him every step of the way but also serving as a coach who demanded every ounce of strength the big man could muster, Nooh also had something most Pakistani athletes struggle to find – a proper support structure. 

A regular on the Commonwealth Weightlifting scene, Nooh Dastgir Butt managed to bring home a medal from every Commonwealth Weightlifting Championship held from 2015 to 2021. Bronze in 2015 and 2016, then silver in 2017 and 2021. His first major appearance at a notable event though, was at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia; where he brought home another bronze.

This notably led to great anguish both for him and his stern taskmaster of a father. According to him, it was a mistake that led to him failing to make what would have been a competition-defining 231kg lift. Butt would later go on to recount that his father was so disappointed at his bronze that he didn’t speak to him for a while which led to Butt using this as motivation to train and do better in the future.

Because he missed the 2020 Tokyo Olympics due to a thigh injury that kept him out for a year, his next major moment outside of the 2021 Commonwealth Championships would be at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England. This was finally where he shot to stardom, bagging gold and setting a game record when he proceeded to lift 173 kg in the snatch and 232 kg in clean and for a combined lift of 405 kg.

 

This should have been only the start on the road to eventual glory, but as with most Pakistani sports, troubled times lay ahead

In August 2022, the Pakistan Sports Board suspended the Pakistan Weightlifting Federation and proceeded to install an interim board of their own which obviously the PWLF did not approve. Notably, this act of the PSB was in clear violation of the rules and regulations of the International Olympic Committee, International Weightlifting Federation and Pakistan Olympic Association.

With this senseless infighting going on, higher-ups at the PWLF essentially barred Nooh Dastgir Butt saying he supported the other weightlifting body, which is an allegation the Commonwealth Champion strongly denies.

While clearly disappointed and angered by this derailment of his career caused by tiny men in big offices, he then decided that rather than retiring, he’d channel his talents to another discipline; Strongman Competitions.

Rising from the ashes like a phoenix, Nooh Dastgir Butt clinched the gold medal in the Hercules Columns competition at the recently held Pahlavon Mahmud Strongman Games 2024 in Uzbekistan.

While one can only wonder what might have been if he was with the current Olympic contingent in Paris, one can also hope that this issue with the PWLF gets resolved and that he’s allowed to shine on that stage once more.