CHENNAI: Even before Gyaneshwari Yadav clinched a silver medal in the 53kg weight category at the 2026 Glasgow Commonwealth Games a few days back, her father Deepak Yadav narrated the financial hardships the family faced when his daughter was aspiring to be a weightlifter. An electrician by profession and hailing from Bhodiya village of Rajnandgaon (Chhattisgarh), Yadav was himself a bodybuilder and won quite a few titles before giving up his passion to start contributing to the family's income.
Even though his income was paltry, Yadav always encouraged his children (a daughter and a son) to compete in sports. He even started powerlifting along with his daughter Gyaneshwari, when she was a student. They acted as partners to each other and used to train in a local gym in Rajnandgaon. With a daughter lifting weights in company of his father in a gym visited by men, the duo even raised quite a few eyebrows but remained undeterred. Soon, powerlifting gave way to weightlifting and Gyaneshwari started excelling in the sport.
Given the sport his daughter has chosen, it was difficult for Yadav to make ends meet but he didn't mind working in two shifts to add to his income. In 2022, Gyaneshwari clinched a silver medal in 49kg in junior category during the IWLF Youth, Junior and Senior National Weightlifting Championships in Bhubaneswar. It earned her a place in the national squad for the 2022 IWF Junior World Championships. "She won a silver medal there and became part of the national camp. She finished second in the junior Asian Championships next year. In the same year, she got a constable job with Chhattisgarh police," Yadav had told TNIE.
The government job provided some relief to the family even as Gyaneshwari graduated to the senior category. However, money was still an issue but the silver medal in Glasgow changed things for the better. Chhattisgarh chief minister Vishnu Deo Sai on Monday announced a cash reward of Rs 30 lakh and an out-of-turn promotion to the post of deputy superintendent of police (DSP) for Gyaneshwari Yadav. The lifter, along with her parents, met the chief minister at his official residence, where she was felicitated for bringing laurels to the country and her home state, officials said.
Speaking on the occasion, Sai said Yadav's success in her maiden Commonwealth Games proved that no goal was unattainable with strong willpower, discipline and perseverance. The achievement is an honour to the state's talent, hard work and determination, he added. Notably, the chief minister had met the weightlifter before she departed for Glasgow, wishing her success. He then congratulated her through a video call after her medal-winning performance.
Records were set in heaps as Gyaneshwari competed against Onome Omolola Didih from Nigeria for the gold. Her opponent might have emerged triumphant in the end by lifting a total lift of 206kg (93kg in snatch and 113kg in clean and jerk) but Gyaneshwari fought till the end and finished second. Her best lifts in snatch and clean and jerk were 88kg and 111kg respectively taking her total tally to 199kg.