Indian Weightlifting – when it comes to power it’s all about the ladies
Weightlifting is one of the few sports where we have an Olympic medal – thanks to Karnam Malleswari’s bronze medal winning effort at Sydney 2000.
It is also one of those rare mainstream sports where Indian women have completely overshadowed their male counterparts. It would not be wrong to say that this sport has completely rested on the broad shoulders of Indian women; shoulders which have proven to be far more capable and powerful than those of Indian men.
This sport could well serve as a shining example that the Indian woman is no longer weak and timid. These weightlifters could serve as such great role models - it’s surprising that our advertisers have missed out on this goldmine.
While Indian men have not even had a whiff of a medal at either the World Championship or the Olympics, the women have got a bagful of medals. The best male performances have been an 8th place finish at the World Championship way back in 1957 and a 10th place finish at the 1988 Olympics. The women on the other hand have won 40 medals at the Worlds in addition to the Olympic bronze.
India’s power women can surely take a bow.
Karnam Malleswari is a super star
But the fact remains that Indian women win a lot of gold medals in “World Championships” and nothing in Olympics except KM’s bronze.
I was told that weightlifting is a very strategic sports. One need to give the right “Pass” to save energy to life the best possible combination of weight in both categories. So it requires lot of grey matter. And am sure Indian coaches aren’t grey
They are Jet Black
[...] India at London placed an observative post today on Indian Weightlifting - when it comes to power it’s all about the ladiesHere’s a quick excerptIt is also one of those rare mainstream sports where Indian women have completely overshadowed their male counterparts….It would not be wrong to say that this sport has completely rested on the broad shoulders of Indian women;…This sport could well serve as a shining example that the Indian woman is no longer weak and timid….Weightlifting is one of the few sports where we have an Olympic medal – thanks to Karnam Malleswari’s… [...]
But at least the women have a bronze to show. I am reminded of the way the SX4 advertisement starts - Where have all the men gone?
Irony of life: Indians neither expect nor wish Women to be successful, Remember Chak De concept,In Sydney, 2000
Karnam Malleswari became the first Indian woman to win an Olympic Medal, lifting a total of 240kg in the 69 kg weightlifting division. Unbelievable but Sad Truth: A leading newsmagazine in India had discounted her chances because it said she drank beer and ate “too much” chicken and cheese!!!
China has grabbed gold in men’s and women’s team gymnastics, shooting, judo, archery, diving, badminton, fencing and weightlifting.
Chen Yanqing, already a world champion, secured China’s first gold medal with a total lift of 212 kilograms (467 pounds), setting Olympic records in both the snatch and clean-and-jerk portions of the women’s weightlifting competition.Turkey’s Sibel Ozkan won the silver medal, while Chen Wei-Ling of Taiwan finished third. The 2004 Olympic champion, Nurcan Taylan of Turkey, was eliminated after three failed attempts in the snatch.
Analysis:Chen Interview =In my country, men and women are equal and we women are able to do everything as well as men,” said gold winning weightlifter Chen Yanqing after retaining her 58kg title last week.
(No wonder since 1984; they won five gold medals in each year in 2000 and 2004 in weightlifting alone. During the Asian Games 2006 in Doha there were 15 medals in weightlifting awarded, including ten medals for China – what a performance! )
Hey Joe!
I am happy that, Guys are agreeing to the fact today that Weightlifting is no longer a Guy Thingy.
However there are still some countries where weight lifting by women is still under folds of social unacceptance. My thanks to Ivy Russell os England, as she was the pioneer for women weightlifting.In a letter published in the May 1932 issue of Health and Strength magazine, she urged the British Amateur Weight Lifting Association to sanction competition for women.
The Miss Universe bodybuilding contest came first, in 1965. The first world powerlifting championships was held in 1980.
Seven years later, the International Weightlifting Federation staged its first world championships. Weightlifting events for women were added to the Olympic program in 2000.
There are currently eight weight classifications for men and seven for women.
GOD’S Willing - we will get eight for women one day! Amen!