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.
Malleswari was born in 1 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 Karnam 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”.
Karnam Malleswari proved that if a woman desired, she could become physically as strong – or even stronger than men.
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