Karnam Malleswari is an Indian sports personality, prominent in the field of weightlifting. She is also recognized as the first Indian woman to win a world title in any sport. Throughout her career which spanned ten years she has been the winner of eleven gold and three silver medals in various events. She has also won the prestigious Olympic bronze. For nine years, she has been the national champion, which included twice in the 52 kg category and seven times in the 54 kg category.
Early Life of Karnam Malleswari
Karnam Malleswari was born on 1st June 1975 in the district of Srikakulam in Andhra Pradesh. She also spent some of her childhood days in Donakonda. She started weightlifting since the age of twelve in her village. She had a great support from her family, especially her mother, Shyamala, who took a very good care of her diet, which plays an important role in the life of a weightlifter. Malleswari"s sister, Krishna Kumari, is also a national level weightlifter.
Career of Karnam Malleswari
Karnam Malleswari initially took part in the National Junior Weight Lifting Championship in which she ranked first. In the year 1992 she partook in the Asian Championship which occurred in Thailand. In the event she won three silver medals. She also bagged three bronze medals in the world championship. In the year 1995, she lifted 113.0 kg in the clean and jerk and earned the world weightlifting title with a new record. Being the winner of gold medal, she beat the previous record of 112.5 kg set by China"s Long Yuling in December 1993. Karnam Malleswari also won the Asian Championship in 1995. In 1998 she participated in the Bangkok Asian Games after a short break after marriage. In the Senior National Weightlifting Championship, held in 1998, she broke her own record and won India"s first medal, weightlifting silver. In the 2000 Summer Olympics at Sydney she won a bronze medal for lifting 240 kilograms. With this, she also gained recognition as the first Indian woman to win an Olympic medal.
Achievements of Karnam Malleswari
For her contributions in the arena of sports Karnam Malleswari has been honoured with the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award for the year 1995-1996 which is the highest sporting honour of India. In 1994 she was awarded with India"s second highest award in sports, the Arjuna Award. She has also received the civilian honour Padma Shri in the year 1999.
Personal Life of Karnam Malleswari
Karnam Malleswari got married in the year 1997 and shifted to Yamuna Nagar for a short break from competitive weight-lifting. She returned to the sports arena in 1998.
