India’s Harjinder Kaur won the bronze medal in women’s 71kg weightlifting at the Commonwealth Games 2022 by squatting 212 kg. Harjinder, who is from Punjab, benefited from divine intervention when Nigeria’s Joy Eze, the favourite to win the gold medal, was unable to lift even one attempt in the clean and jerk round of the competition.
After winning bronze, Harjinder, who comes from a lowly family in Punjab, expressed her gratitude to her parents and her belief that Monday’s events were in her favour (August 1).
Began weightlifting in 2016
In 2016, Harjinder began weightlifting for the first time after learning about it in college. Harjinder, who comes from a low-income household, received little assistance from her family for her athletic endeavours.
As the family’s only source of income, Harjinder’s father is a farmer, and the household never had the resources to support her career. However, they more than made up for what they lacked in financial help with moral support. After her competition, Harjinder claimed that her mother, father, and brother have always supported her in her desire to compete in weightlifting.
One of her early coaches assisted her at this time, taking care of all of her training’s demands and assisting her in any way he could.
Support of family and coach
Speaking about the time, a teary-eyed Harjinder said, “When I started off in 2016, I did not get any financial support from my family, but I have been morally supported by my family. My coach, Paramjeet Sharma, helped me out a lot in those days and he had the faith that I would be bringing a medal today, and his faith, I think, won me my medal.”
She was accepted into the national camp in 2021 at Patiala after demonstrating her potential, and a year later she managed to win bronze at the Commonwealth Games in 2022. She has reportedly lifted more weight throughout her training, and after such a strong start on the international scene, one can only hope that the late bloomer will be able to accomplish more achievements in the years to come.
