Biografía
Indian weightlifter Karnam Malleswari holds the distinguished honour of being the first woman from India to win a medal at the Olympics.
Her career’s crowning achievement came at the Sydney 2000 Olympics. Lifting 110kg and 130kg in the ‘snatch’ and ‘clean and jerk’ categories respectively to total 240kg, Karnam Malleswari became the first Indian woman to win a prestigious Olympic bronze medal.
The historic achievement made her an instant household name and the masses named her ‘The Iron Lady’. She remains, till date, the only Indian woman weightlifter to have won an Olympic medal.
“This medal didn’t feel my own, but the whole country’s,” she says. “Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee called me later that day. He congratulated me and called me ‘Bharat ki beti’ (daughter of India).
Born in Andhra Pradesh’s Voosavanipeta hamlet, Karnam Malleswari began her training in the sport at the age of 12.
Before long, success came calling. Karnam Malleswari placed third in the World Championships in 1993 and then followed up with consecutive 54kg world titles in 1994 and 1995, before bookending her run with another third-place effort in 1996.
Resultados olímpicos
Athlete Olympic Results Content
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