KARNAM MALLESWARI - THE WEIGHTLIFTER

For Karnam Malleswari the Olympic Games in Sydney will forever be synonymous with a dream that was realized. It was here that this woman weightlifter achieved a rare feat when she won a medal in the 69-kg category. In her first outing in 69 kg after moving up from 63 kg, she hoisted a total of 240 kg, 110 kg in snatch and 130 kg in clean and jerk, to finish close behind China's Lin Weining and Hungary's Erzsebet Markus who bagged gold and silver respectively. Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee hailed Malleswari's world-class performance "a tribute to Indian womanhood”.Though a bronze only, it was worth its weight in gold. Coached by Belarussian coach, Leonid Taranenkohe, not only did she become the first woman from India to win an Olympic medal but also the third individual medal winner since the country started taking part in the four-yearly sports extravaganza. Not counting Norman Pritchard who won two silver medals in the Paris Olympics of 1900 and whose origin and nationality is still to be defined. Malleswari followed the example of wrestler Kashaba Jhadav in the Helsinki Olympics of 1952 and Leander Paes, the tennis star in the Atlanta Games, while claiming a bronze medal.While creating history she also wiped off the bitter memories of the pre-selection drama in India where at one stage there was even a hint of her not making the trip. But she defied carping critics, moved to a higher bodyweight category and more importantly performed exactly what was expected of her. Before her departure, Balbir Singh, a former national heavyweight champion and government nominee on the selection committee, virtually predicted the total weight she was to lift in the competition. She did exactly that. For a lifter moving from 63 kg to 69 kg and taking part in her first competition in this weight category, Malleswari by turning a medal performance far exceeded expectations. It must be mentioned here that women's weightlifting became a medal discipline only from the Sydney Games.Malleswari's bronze medal weighed that much heavier since it was the only one obtained by India in the Games. And for Malleswari it was an achievement of her life worth more in terms of cash and honour than the two gold and one bronze won at the World Championship held in China in 1994, In fact that was the first time that an Indian woman had held the world's stage in any sport.Born on 1 June 1979 at Voosavanipeta village of Srikakulam district in Andhra Pradesh, Malleswari had her school education from Z.P.P.G. High School in the nearby town of Amadalavalasa. Third in a family of six children of Rarndas, a constable with the Railway Protection Force, she took to the sport as a 12-year-old at her village gymnasium, following her elder sister Karnam Narasamma. Her younger sister Krishna Kumari is also a national level lifter. It was their mother, Shyamala, who gave her daughter the best of diet she could afford and accompanied them to competitions. Source : "India's Highest Sports Awards and Those Who Won Them" by S.S.Gandhi, The Defence