Who is Harjinder Kaur?

Harjinder Kaur won bronze in the women’s 71kg weightlifting event at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. She lifted a total of 212kg (93 in snatch and 119 in clean and jerk).

Alexis Ashworth of Canada takes silver with a total weight of 214kg, while Sarah Davies of England won gold with a total weight of 229kg.

Also read: Weightlifter Harjinder Kaur wins bronze at Commonwealth Games 2022

Sahib Singh and Kuldeep Kaur’s youngest child, Harjinder was born in Mehas village near Nabha. The youngster would play kabaddi at Nabha’s Government Girls School. When she first started college at Anandpur Sahib, coach Surinder Singh assigned her to the college Kabaddi squad. Kaur joined the sports wing at Punjabi University, Patiala a year later, when coach Paramjeet Sharma saw her talent.

Harjinder Kaur’s prowess at tug-of-war provided openings for her to become a weightlifter. Her muscular arms, she claims, came from cutting feed. It was hard work on the toka, a chaff cutting machine that required the operator to turn a massive wheel with blades.

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The coach thought her muscular arms would help her walk into tug-of-war teams. The 1990 Commonwealth Games weight lifting champion (69kg) had already determined her future route. The tug of war was merely the beginning.

“My father would give me Rs 350 for the return fare from Nabha to the college hostel in Sri Anandpur Sahib and another Rs 350 as pocket money. I felt ashamed to ask for more money,” Harjinder stated prior to her CWG competition. “If I win a medal, I would say that the fodder I cut on a toka helped me build strong arms and it helped me when I took up weightlifting,” she added.

Her early podium finishes included All India Inter University champion, silver in the Senior Nationals, and silver at the Khelo India Inter University games.

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Previously, in 2022, she won gold in the 71 kg category at the Senior Nationals in Orissa with a total lift of 208kg (92kg in snatch and 116 in clean and jerk). She was soon accepted into the national camp. “Coming to the camp made me not worry about things like physio or supplements or coaching. To see Mirabai (Chanu) didi and later take a selfie with her remains my special moment. Hopefully I can take a selfie with Mirabai didi after winning the CWG medal,” Harjinder said.