Valluri Ajaya Babu (born 25 November 2004) is an Indian weightlifter. He has won three gold medals in the Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships, and a silver medal in the 2024 Asian Youth & Junior Weightlifting Championships. He won the silver medal in the men's 79 kg category at the 2026 Commonwealth Games.
Early life Valluri Ajaya Babu was born on 25 November 2004 in Kondavelagada in Vizianagaram district of Andhra Pradesh. He was introduced to weightlifting at the age of 11, and initially began training under his father, Valluri Srinivasa Rao. Srinivasa Rao was a former international weightlifter, and coach, who had won a bronze medal in the 2010 Commonwealth Games. He later trained at the Sports Authority of India's National Centre of Excellence at Patiala.
Career In the Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships in Suva in September 2024, Ajaya Babu won the gold medal in both the junior and senior categories in the 81 kg weight class. He set a commonwealth record with a total lift of including in snatch and in clean & jerk. In the 2024 Asian Youth & Junior Weightlifting Championships held in Doha in December 2024, he won a silver medal in snatch, with a lift of , in the 81 kg weight category. In the 2025 Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships at Ahmedabad, Ajaya Babu won the gold medal in the 79 kg category with a competition record lift of including in snatch and in clean & jerk.
Ajaya Babu was part of the Indian contingent for the 2026 Commonwealth Games held in Glasgow. In the 79 kg event, he won the silver medal with a total lift of . In snatch, he cleared in his first attempt, and lifted in his third and final attempt to set a new Commonwealth Games record. In clean & jerk, he cleared and in his first two attempts respectively, before lifting in his third and final attempt to briefly set a new Commonwealth Games record. However, he finished second after Muhammad Erry Hidayat lifted in his final attempt.
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