If Indian women are shining in the Olympic arena today, they owe their success streak to one woman – Karnam Malleswari, the First Indian women to win a medal in the Olympics. She inspired many women to follow her success path and to
believe in themselves.
It is to be noted that all the women featured in this series had to fight against all odds and reach the pinnacle of success through sheer grit and determination.
Malleswari was born in 1st June 1975 in a family of sportspeople. Her father Karnam Manohar was a college-level football player while her four sisters had taken to weightlifting. She has four sisters and all are married and well settled in
life. It was her mother who encouraged her to pursue the sport, to believe in herself and to prove the sceptics wrong. So Karrnam trudged on and started training as early as 12 years and was noticed by SAI in the 90s.
She took upon a sport which was deemed unfit for women and even more unthinkable to take it up to the Olympian level. She became the first-ever Indian woman to win a medal in the Olympics and in weightlifting at the Sydney Olympics, 2000.
In 1994, she received the Arjuna Award and in 1999, she received the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, India’s highest sporting honour, and the civilian Padma Shri award. She went on to win many international tournaments including Asian Games, and
World Championships, with gold and silver medals in her kitty.
She has paved the way for athletes like Mirabai Chanu, Kunjurani Devi, Poonam Yadav and many others to dream of an Olympic podium finish. True to her name Karnam which in Sanskrit means Dignity, Pride and Fame, Malleswari won accolades for herself and for her country – making everyone proud of her achievements.
Malleshwari married fellow weightlifter Rajesh Tyagi. The couple was blessed with a son. She retired after failing to score at the 2004 Olympics. She works at the Food Corporation of India as Chief General Manager. She was appointed as the vice-chancellor of Sports University, established by the government of Delhi in June 2021.
Malleswari remains a path-breaking sportsperson by breaking stereotypes about women in a sport which is often neglected in India apart from being considered as “masculine”. Her wish is to continue contributing by coaching and helping other
young women take up weightlifting.
India’s weightlifting Olympian, Karnam Malleswari proved that if a woman desired, she could become physically as strong – or even stronger than men.
“I feel proud to have created this pathway for our girls and to see them
winning Olympic medals. Some even tell me today,
‘Ma’am you started it all’
,
so I feel delighted to have changed the perception.
G. BHUVANESWARI
