CHENNAI : A 17-year-old government school student won the gold medal for weightlifting at the State Games for Chief Minister’s Trophy held in Vellore from February 17 to 19 this year. She received a cash award of Rs 1 lakh last week from the Tamil Nadu government last week. A class 12 student at Rani Girls Higher Secondary School, C Sneha is from Naduchalai village in Thanjavur. She won the gold medal among 100 other participants at the competition by lifting 130 kg. Back in 2017, she won the bronze medal at the National Weightlifting Championship in the under-18 category and has competed in the championship eight times.
“I started weightlifting in class 9. I was inspired by my elder sister, who is also a weightlifter, who has won a silver medal at the national level. Most village girls like me prefer weightlifting, and I want to be unique and achieve something big in sports. In the beginning, when I went for training it was very difficult, and I could initially only lift the bar. For a week, I had severe body pain, but when I thought of achieving my goals, I couldn’t see the pain through victory. Despite the stress and pain, I went for practice regularly,” said Sneha.
In her school hostel in Pudukottai, she and other sports students follow a strict diet, which helps her train and practice better. With her entire family having a sports background — her father being a state-level kabaddi player — she has two strong pillars of support at home and at school, and she said that they encourage and motivate her to achieve more in her life.
Being from a middle-class family, competing in various competitions was difficult. “She does well in her academics and sports by giving her 100 per cent effort in both. Other weightlifting students have support from government and sponsors, but she came to this level through her own struggle. She has not missed a practice session to date. She practices for three hours daily,” says K Muthuramalingam, Sneha’s coach.
Sneha’s lifetime goal is to represent India in the Olympics, a goal she is striving towards daily.