Weightlifting has been a significant part of Indian sports history, with its first modern Olympics in 1896 in Athens. The first World Championships took place in 1891 in London, and modern weightlifting with barbells became popular in the late 19th century. India has produced many weightlifting stars, including Karnam Malleswari, Kunjarani Devi, Mirabai Chanu, and Sathish Sivalingam. The sport has a rich legacy, but India has not lived up to its potential. The Indian Weightlifting Federation was formed in 1935 with Shri Bijoy Chand Mahatab as its first president.
Indian Weightlifting in a nutshell
In 1936, U Zaw Weik, an Olympic weightlifter from Burma, became the first Indian weightlifter to compete in the sport in Berlin. The first weightlifter from India to compete for the country in 1948 in London, 1952 in Helsinki, and 1956 in Melbourne was Dandamundi Rajagopal. The Indian Weightlifting Federation was established in 1935, and its honorary secretary was Shri N.N. Bose, while its first president was Shri Bijoy Chand Mahatab.
India competed in the Asian Games in 1951, the Commonwealth Games in 1966, and the Olympic Games in Berlin in 1936. In 1972, Fly Weight and Super Heavy Weight were added to the original five bodyweight categories at the Olympic Games. In 1989, weightlifters from India participated in the World Championships and took home three silver and two bronze medals.
India’s performance at Olympics
- At the 1948 London Olympics, India sent two lifters, Daniel Pon Mony and Dandamundi Rajagopal. He placed 12th in the men’s 60 kg division at the Helsinki Olympics in 1952.
- Three lifters from India competed at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, with Valli Asari Mookan placing 12th in the men’s 56 kg division.
- India sent a single athlete to the 1960 Rome Olympics, Laxmi Kanta Das, who placed 12th in the men’s 60kg division.
- Anil Mondal placed eleventh in the first Men’s 52 kg competition at the 1972 Munich Olympics. Anil Mondal was the only competitor from India in the 52kg division in 1976, although he was not the winner.
- Karunakaran Ekambaram and Tamil Selwan Muniswamy competed in 1980, however, they were unable to lift the Clean & Jerk weights and were therefore unable to finish.
- Both Raghavan Chandrasekaran and Gurunathan Muthuswamy participated in the Men’s 52 kg division in 1988, however neither was able to place.
- In 1992, Ponnuswamy Rangaswamy placed eighth in the men’s 56kg category while Badathala Adisekhar placed tenth in the men’s 52 kg category.
- At the Atlanta Olympics in 1996, India had the largest five-lifter squad, competing in the men’s 54kg, 59kg, 64kg, 70kg, and 76 kg weight categories.
- Weightlifting for women debuted at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, where Karnam Malleshwari took home the bronze in the 69 kg women’s division.
- Only three Indian women lifters competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, where Kunjarani Devi placed fourth in the 48 kg class. Sanamacha Chanu’s positive test resulted in her disqualification.
- A 2006 doping controversy led to India’s exclusion from the Indian weightlifting organisation in 2008.
- One male and one female weightlifter competed in the 2012 London Olympics; Kumar placed fifteenth and Chanu seventh. The only lifters competing in Rio in 2016 were Sathish Sivalingam and Mirabai Chanu, who failed in the Clean & Jerk Weights event on all three tries.
Some Legends of Weightlifting
- Over the years, Indian weightlifting has produced several prominent individuals. The first celebrity in the sport, Kunjarani Devi (born in 1968), took home the overall silver medal from the 1989 World Championships. From 1991 until 1997, she competed in the global championships and won six additional medals, all of them silver.
- Devi made a comeback in 2002, taking home the gold medal at the Manchester Commonwealth Games.
- Devi’s younger brother, Karnam Malleswari, made his international debut in the 1993 world championships in Melbourne.
- In 1995 and 1996, he became the first Indian to win a world title in weightlifting. In the Asian Games in 1994 and 1998, she took home two silver medals. In the Asian Games in 1994 and 1998, she took home two silver medals.
- Born in 1994, Mirabai Chanu gained notoriety when she took home the silver medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, but she was unable to complete a lift in the 2016 Rio Olympics.
- Born in 1992, Sathish Sivalingam is a two-time Commonwealth Games winner who has dominated the men’s 77kg division in Commonwealth tournaments.
- Jeremy Lalrinnunga is the first Indian youth Olympic champion, having been born in Mizoram in 2002.
Conclusion
Weightlifting has a lengthy history in India, where it had its Olympic debut in 1896. Founded in 1935, the Indian Weightlifting Federation has produced athletes of note such as Sathish Sivalingam, Karnam Malleswari, Kunjarani Devi, and Mirabai Chanu. Though Kunjarani Devi was the first Indian weightlifter to compete in the World Championships in 1989, the country has not yet reached its full potential.
