Breaking all barriers: – Karnam Malleswari

Karnam Malleswari is an Indian weightlifter. She was born on 1st of June in the year 1975 in Srikalukam in Andhra Pradesh, India. She practiced weightlifting in her village gymnasium at the tender age of 12. Her younger sister Krishna Kumari is also a national level weightlifter. Karnam Malleswari did her schooling from ZPPG High School in Amadalavalasa. Her father was a constable in the Railway Protection Force. Malleshwari was trained under a games project of the Sports Authority of India (SAI) for special areas.
For the first time she participated in the ‘National Junior weight lifting championship and stood 1st. in the year 1992, she participated in the Asian champion ship which took place in Thailand and stood second and won three silver medals. In the world championship she won three bronze medals also. She gained worldwide recognition when she won a bronze medal in the 2000 Summer Olympics at Sydney. It was a huge accomplishment as she became the 1st female to win an Olympic medal. For the years 1995-1996, she received the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, India’s highest sporting honour. She is also a recipient of the civilian honour Padma Shri in 1999.Malleswari is awarded the Arjuna Award in 1994.in the year 1995, Karnam Malleswari won the world weightlifting title in her class (54kgs) with a new record, by lifting 113.0 kg in the clean and jerk. She beat the previous record of 112 kg and won a gold medal in that particular event. She also won the 1995 Asian championship. She broke her own records in the Senior National Weightlifting Championship in 1997, and India’s first medal, a weightlifting silver, in the 1998 Asian Games.

In the year 1997, she got married at took a break from weightlifting. She returned in the year 1998 or the Bangkok Asian Games. Although, unfortunately enough she was unable to be very successful. Even at the Athens World Weightlifting championships held in the year 1999, she was unable to win a medal. There was contention over the choice of weightlifters for India’s Olympic team. With three contestants and two spots, there was criticism when Kunjarani Devi was left out. However, Malleswari’s bronze validates her selection. She currently lives in Haryana with her family.