Karnam Malleswari

Karnam Malleswari
Personal information
Full name Karnam Malleswari
Born (1975-06-01) 1 June 1975
Amadalavalasa, Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh, India
Height 163 cm (5 ft 4 in)
Sport
Country India
Sport Weightlifting
Coached by Leonid Taranenko[1]
Medal record
Representing  India
Olympic Games
2000 Sydney 69 kg
World Championships
1993 Melbourne54 kg
1994 Istanbul54 kg
1995 Guangzhou54 kg
1996 Guangzhou54 kg
Asian Games
1994 Hiroshima 54 kg
1998 Bangkok 63 kg

Karnam Malleswari (born 1 June 1975) is a retired Indian weightlifter. She is the first woman in the history of Indian Olympics to win a medal. In 1995, she received the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna,[2] India's highest sporting honour, and in 1999, the civilian Padma Shri award.[3]

Career

Malleswari won the world title in the 54 kg division in 1994 and 1995 and placed third in 1993 and 1996.

In 2000, Sydney Olympics, Malleswari lifted 110 kg in the "snatch" and 130 kg in the "clean and jerk" for a total of 240 kg. She won the bronze medal and became the first Indian woman to win an Olympic medal.[4] She is also the first and only Indian woman weightlifter to win an Olympic medal.

Prior to the Olympics, in 1994 she won gold in a World Weightlifting Championships in Istanbul and in 1995 she won the Asian Weightlifting Championships in Korea in the 54 kg category. She won the World Weightlifting Championships title in China, in the year 1995 with a record lift off 113 kg. Even before her Olympic win, she was a two-time weightlifting world champion with 29 international medals, which includes 11 golds medals[5].

Along with the national and international medals, she was also awarded with the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna in 1999, Arjuna Award in 1994, and Padma Shri in 1999.[6][7]

Personal Life

Malleswari was born in a small village Voosavanipeta in Andhra Pradesh[8]. She has four sisters and all are well trained in weightlifting. She started her career when she was 12 and was trained under coach Neelamshetty Appanna[9].

She moved to Delhi with her sister and was soon spotted by the Sports Authority of India. Then in 1990, Malleshwari joined the national camp and four years later, she was a world championship winner in the 54-kg class[10].

In 1997, she married a fellow weightlifter Rajesh Tyagi, and in 2001 gave birth to a son. She planned to return to competitions at the 2002 Commonwealth Games, but withdrew due to the death of her father. She retired after failing to score at the 2004 Olympics.[1][11] She currently lives in Yamunanagar with her husband and works at Food Corporation of India as Chief General Manager (General Administration).

References

  1. 1 2 Malleswari lifts Indian Olympic hopes – ‘I’m enjoying my preparation for a second medal... I’m very hopeful’. The Telegraph (8 July 2004)
  2. ↑ List of Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Awardees. sportsauthorityofindia.nic.in
  3. ↑ "Padma Awards" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 November 2014. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
  4. ↑ Ganguly, Meenakshi (27 December 2000) Conversations: 'I Did What I Could For My Country'. Time
  5. ↑ BISWAS, SOUTIK (2000-10-02). "Bronze Woman". outlookindia. Retrieved 2017-08-25.
  6. ↑ "Blast from the Past: When India made a breakthrough with its weightlifting champion in the Olympics". 2016-06-15. Retrieved 2017-08-25.
  7. ↑ "Inspiring Women - Karnam Malleswari". Women's Web: For Women Who Do. Retrieved 2017-08-25.
  8. ↑ "Karnam Malleswari: The woman who lifted a nation". The Hindu. Retrieved 2017-08-25.
  9. ↑ "Karnam Malleswari: The woman who lifted a nation". The Hindu. Retrieved 2017-08-25.
  10. ↑ "Bronze Woman". outlookindia. Retrieved 2017-08-25.
  11. ↑ Karnam Malleswari. sports-reference.com
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