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Illustrations & Graphics: Aroop Mishra, Arnica Kala
(This story was originally published on 15 August 2021. It is being reposted from The Quint's archives on the occasion of International Women's Day.)
Let's rewind to India in the 1970s. Women athletes were very rare and those who still chose to pursue were either ridiculed, or rebuked, or rejected. But all that was about to change forever...
This is the story of Karnam Malleswari, the first Indian woman to win an Olympic medal.
Karnam Malleswari was born in Voosavanipeta – a small village in Andhra Pradesh – on 1 June 1975. Her father Manohar was a constable in the Railway Protection Force and a volleyball player. Her mother Shyamla pushed four of their five daughters to take up weightlifting. She believed that weightlifting would make her daughters strong.
Malleswari may be every Indian woman's hero but for her, her mother is the real champion.
She was twelve when she first walked up to the sole gym in her village, with a dream of taking up weightlifting – a male-dominated sport. The local coach shunned her for being 'too thin and fragile' for weightlifting.
But, the rejection became her motivation...
Malleswari had no formal training in the initial years. She practised on fields and mostly on her own – no coach, no equipment, no kit.
"Even if one child believes that no dream is too big to chase, my work here is done. I trained in the fields and never bothered about those who criticised me for taking up a sport that they thought was ‘manly’. Little girls must follow their passion irrespective of what society thinks," she said in an interview.
In just three years, in her first junior nationals held in Udaipur in 1990, Malleswari broke nine national records, competing in the 52 kg category. She was only 15 then.
Next year, she won a silver at the 1991 Senior Nationals, held in Ambala. Two years later, she won a bronze at the World Championships in Melbourne. This was her first international medal.
That year, she also won a silver at the Asian Games in Hiroshima. Next year, Malleswari clinched gold again, retaining the top spot at the World Championships in Guangzhou.
(Photo: Facebook/Altered by The Quint)
(Photo: Olympics.com/Altered by The Quint)
(Photo: Facebook/Altered by The Quint)
(Photo: Twitter/Altered by The Quint)
Weightlifting for women was first introduced in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. And by the time Malleswari qualified and geared up for the Olympics, she had already won 29 International medals, of which 11 were gold.
Ahead of the Sydney Olympics in 2020, India had won only one medal in the last four editions in 1984, 1988, 1992 and 1996. There were hardly any hopes of a medal this time too. A pall of gloom hung over the Indian contingent.
She was the only medal winner from India, at Sydney. Her bronze win made her the third Indian to clinch an individual medal at the Olympics.
Her medal win instantly made her a hero. She was hailed a 'champion, a 'true superstar'. When she returned home with the medal, thousands were at the airport, cheering for her, congratulating her. She lost count of the garlands that day – a day, she says she can never forget.
(Photo: Facebook/Altered by The Quint)
(Photo: Olympics.com/Altered by The Quint)
(Photo: Facebook/Altered by The Quint)
(Photo: Olympics.com/Altered by The Quint)
Malleswari married fellow weightlifter Rajesh Tyagi in 1997 and gave birth to her son in 2001.
Malleswari did not participate at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, following the sudden demise of her father. She made a comeback at the 2004 Athens Olympics and retired soon after following a back injury.
(Photo: Facebook/Altered by The Quint)
(Photo: Facebook/Altered by The Quint)
The Khel Ratna and Padma Shri awardee champion weightlifter is popularly known as the 'Iron Lady of India'.
She currently runs the Karnam Malleswari Academy for weightlifting and trains young girls. She believes that the best way to give back to her sport is by popularising it amongst the youth and provide them with world-class facilities.
For every young girl in India who dares to dream, smashing patriarchy and breaking stereotypes, Karnam Malleswari is a game changer, a hero and an Olympic legend...
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