Name of the sportsperson: Karnam Malleshwari
Date of Birth: June 1, 1975
Discipline: Weightlifting
State: Andhra Pradesh
Achievements:
• Bronze Medal in 2000 Sydney Olympics
• World Championship Title in 1995
• Asian Championship 1995
• Arrjuna Award in 1994
• Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna for 1995-96
• Padamshri in 1999.
Profile:
Karnam Malleshwari was one of the most accomplished sports personality India has ever produced. All through her career she made India proud by winning medals on world stage. To her firsts, she participated in the 'National Junior weight lifting championship and finished at the top. In 1992 she participated in the Asian championship which took place in Thailand and stood second and won three silver medals. She also won three bronze medals in the world championship.
In 1995, Malleswari won the world weightlifting title in her class (54 kg) with a new record by lifting 113.0 kg in the clean and jerk. Malleswari, who went on to win the contest's gold medal, beat the previous record of 112.5 kg set by China's Long Yuling in December 1993. 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
Malleswari was married in 1997 and took a break from competitive weightlifting, to return in 1998 for the Bangkok Asian Games. However, she struggled with her weight thereafter, and was unable to win a medal at the 1999 Athens World Weightlifting championships.
Her golden moment of glory came when she won the sole medal of India in the Sydney Olympics. She became the face saver of India when she won the bronze medal.
She was conferred with Arjuna Award in 1994. She is a recipient of the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, India's highest sporting honour for the year 1995-1996.
