Karnam Malleswari: The Weight Lifting Athlete

India has given many sport’s stars to the world, Karnam Malleswari is one of them. Born in a small village of Andhra Pradesh called Srikakulamn, Karnamis bagged many medals for the country in the field of weight lifting. She started following her dreams at the tender age of 12. Her first practice began from a small gymnasium situated at her village.

Malleshwari was trained under a games project of the Sports Authority of India (SAI) for special areas. In 1990, she was included in the national camp and four years later she won the World Championship in the 54kg class. Her story did not stop there and she won another bronze medal at the 2000 Olympics, becoming the first Indian woman to win an Olympic medal. In 1995 she received the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna which is known as India's highest sporting honour and in 1999 the civilian Padma Shri award.

In 1997 she got married a fellow weightlifter Rajesh Tyagi, and in 2001 gave birth to a son. She intended to return to competitions at the 2002 Commonwealth Games, unfortunately, withdrew due to the death of her father. She retired after failing to score at the 2004 Olympics.

Currently living the life of a retired weight lifting athlete, Karnam, has seen many ups and downs in her life but her-never-say-no spirit motivated her to achieve hers goals.

By: Ms. Priyanka Negi

Content: Wikipedia