Exactly two decades ago, Karnam Malleswari showed the way that an Indian lady athlete, too, could excel at the Olympics. When she clinched a historic bronze on September 19, 2000, at the Sydney Games, there were many left confused by her effort.
Those days, Indian athletes going to the Olympics was more a token effort, though in the previous Olympics in Atlanta, Leander Paes had won bronze in tennis.
In a chat with this writer today, Malleswari recalled “those days” when few expected her in 2000 to win a medal. “I cannot ever forget how much bad press I got before the Sydney Olympics. There was this India Today correspondent who wrote rubbish about me in the magazine where she said I was overweight, drinking beer and eating unhealthy food. It was an article in such bad taste, my entire family was affected. However, my husband kept me motivated and asked me to keep working hard,” recalled Malleswari.
Malli, as she is known to most old-timers, does not mind her sport is not a very popular one. “Weightlifting has always been a sport which gets low media coverage, except when there are controversies. I, for one, never got the hype in coverage even when I was winning World Championship gold medals and Asian Games medals. So, when I was being rubbished before the Sydney Olympics, I actually decided I had to prove my point. Indian athletes were then known to be happy just going to the Games and that they took part,” said Malleswari.
Asked to reflect and rewind on her September 19, 2000 effort, Malleswari became emotional. “There are a few good people who remember me like you. I have no hesitation in saying it is special that two decades since that day I will always be remembered as a path-breaker for women in India. My journey and results are one of pure toil and I am happy more women Indian athletes have won Olympic medals,” she said.
Recollecting the Sydney experience, Malleswari, a senior officer in the Food Corporation of India, said she could have won gold. “There were so many things being played up against me, first a media article and then repeated dope testing before the Games. For some strange reason I was tested twice, it was as if they were trying to upset me. When I asked why I was tested twice, the authorities said there was some complaint against me!. I know I have competed fair and square and had it not been for bad luck I could have won gold in Sydney. I still think, my coaches set the bar too high, and there was no need for it,” is her lament.
Asked further on the gold medal chance, Malleswari explained how women’s weightlifting not being a part of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics hurt her. “I was in peak shape and form in 1994 and 1995 when I won the world championship. Had I competed in Atlanta, I would have won gold, but that was not to be. Again, I opened the medal tally for India in the 1998 Asian Games. I got injured that year and people said I was past my prime. My husband motivated me and despite the back injury I trained hard and went to Sydney. The day before I competed, there was a lot of expectation from Sanamacha Chanu in Sydney. The media had come to see her. But the day I won, very few media people were there, I suppose I was not expected to win,” she recalled.
Malleswari has said in the past she never got her due but has now come to terms with it. “I still remember on the day of competition, I prayed to Ganesh Bhagwan and went for my event. And when I won the medal, it was a dream come true, though I still feel it could have been gold. Yes, I did interviews and so on but what stands out for me is the support I got from my family and husband,” she said.
Two days after she won the medal, she had to do an online chat with Sify.com. Malleswari had no hesitation in asking my former colleague Norris Pritam and me to help her out with the chat. “Yes, I know people were asking questions online and you both were of help. Those were the pre social media days, still a chat room was something big I know,” said Malleswari.
The Indian government then decided her husband would fly to Sydney. The story was one of great emotion where an Indian male who had supported his wife to Olympic success met the heroine.
Today, Malleswari is very hopeful her sport can grow. “There is full support from Mirabhai Chanu and the others. I would love to see Mirabhai win a medal next year in Tokyo. I also think Jeremy has the potential,” says Malleswari.
Memories of her return to India, hugging her mother and sisters and friends are still fresh in memory. For the path-breaker in Indian sport, Sydney was a dream come true. Two decades hence, she can still recall her journey vividly with the same passion.
A first, which can never be forgotten.
