In 2000 Sydney Olympics was a daunting event. No members of the Indian Olympic team were able to advance into the finals of any sports. Everyone thought that team might have to return empty-handed. But then Karnan Malleswari alone took the responsibility to lift the nation's flag. She went to the weightlifting match, with an aggregate of 240 kilos, she brought the bronze medal to the country. At that time, it was a huge feat to achieve when only participation was more than enough expected from women. She was the first Indian woman to do so on such a grand stage, setting up a higher benchmark.
Karnan Malleswari was a big name in weightlifting as she was already the world champion from the 1994 gold medal in Istanbul, defended her title in Guangzhou in 1995, but in the Olympics, the stakes were high. Despite being a medal winner in Olympics, she regrets that she lost her chance to get the gold. She is confident that she could have won gold, but unfortunately, due to a miscalculation on their part.
It has been two decades now still no other participant has been able to come closer to what she had done. But what she had done opened the door for the women of India in the Olympics which, Mary Kom, Saina Nehwal, P.V.Sindhu, and Sakshi Malik have followed. Post Credit: Olympics.com, The Hindu, The Times of India, Scroll.in