Top Women Weightlifters in India | Female Weightlifters in India

Lifting Legends: Top Women Weightlifters in India

India has produced some exceptional women weightlifters over the years, such as Mirabai Chanu, Karnam Malleswari, Kunjarani Devi, Renu Bala, and Neelam Setti Laxmi. In the last few decades, Indian women weightlifters have shown their mettle on the International stage by winning multiple medals.

Mirabai Chanu, who is a world champion and Olympic silver medalist, and Karnam Malleswari, who won a bronze medal at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, have made significant contributions to the world weightlifting arena and inspired more women to take weightlifting as a sport. In recent times, many emerging lifters have been working hard to make their mark in the Olympics, Commonwealth, and Asian Games.

Let’s take a look at the top women’s weightlifters in India.

Karnam Malleswari

Karnam Malleswar is the first Indian woman weightlifter to win a medal at the Olympics. At the Sydney Olympics in 2000, she lifted 110kg and 130kg in the snatch and clean and jerk categories, respectively, for a combined total of 240kg and won the bronze medal. She also clinched four medals at the world championships, including two gold and two silver medals at the Asian Games.

Mirabai Chanu

Mirabai Chanu became the first Indian women’s weightlifter to win a silver medal at the Olympics after clinching a podium spot in the women’s 49kg category at Tokyo 2020. The 2017 world champion is also a two-time Commonwealth Games champion, having won the gold medals at Gold Coast 2018 and Birmingham 2022. Notably, Chanu is the current world record holder in the Clean & Jerk category in the 49 kg weight class. Incredibly, Chanu registered a new Olympic record with a successful lift of 115kg in clean and jerk. In 2022, she continued her impressive performance by winning a silver medal in the 2022 World Weightlifting Championships.

Bindyarani Devi

Bindyarani Devi Sorokhaibam competes in the 55 kg weight class. She won gold in clean and jerk at the 2021 World Weightlifting Championships. In addition, she won gold at the 2019 Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships and silver at the 2021 Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships. At the 2022 Commonwealth Games, she won the silver medal with a total lift of 202 kg. Bindyarani also set a new Games record and national record in clean and jerk by lifting 116 kg.

Harshada Garud

Harshada Garud is a young weightlifter from Maharashtra. At the 2022 Asian Weightlifting Championships, she won a bronze medal in the 45kg weight category. Earlier in 2022, she made history by becoming the first Indian to win a gold medal in the World Junior Weightlifting Championships held in Heraklion, Greece. Additionally, she earned the third rank in the 45 kg junior woman category at the IWLF Youth, Junior & Senior National Weightlifting Championships 2021-22 held in Bhubaneswar, Odisha.

Jhilli Dalabehera

Jhilli Dalabehera is a weightlifter who competes in the 45 kg category. She has won gold medals in all her lifts and has had a successful career so far. In 2019, she won a silver medal at the Asian Weightlifting Championships, and in the 2020 edition of the same championship, she won gold in the 45 kg category.

Harjinder Kaur

Harjinder Kaur is a top weightlifter who represents India in the 71kg category and the 2020 Khelo India University Games champion. She won bronze at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and silver at the 2021 Commonwealth Youth Games.

Punam Yadav

Punam Yadav is a renowned weightlifter who represents India in the 63kg weight category. She has achieved several milestones throughout her career. In 2014, she won a Bronze medal in the women’s 63 kg weight class at the Commonwealth Games held in Glasgow. Additionally, she also won a gold medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games held in Gold Coast, Australia. More recently, in 2021, she claimed the Silver medal in the Commonwealth Championship in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Popy Hazarika

Popy Hazarika is a top weightlifter who represents India in the 59kg category. She won a Silver medal at the 2021 Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships in Tashkent. In July 2022 she placed Seventh in the women’s 59 kg weightlifting event at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

Purnima Pandey

Purnima Pandey, a top weightlifter from Varanasi, represented India in the +87 kg weight category. She won the gold medal at the 2021 Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships in Tashkent by setting eight national records on her way to victory. In July 2022, she participated in the women’s +87 kg weightlifting event at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and finished in sixth place.