CHENNAI: Gyaneshwari's story is unique. Bhodiya village in Rajnandgaon, Chhattisgarh, hardly knew about weightlifting as a sport. Her love for the sport that grew along with his father's had to practice in gyms frequented by men. Women in her village did not see weightlifting as a viable vocation.
Her father Deepak Yadav won quite a few titles in bodybuilding before gradually distancing himself from it once he got married and was blessed with two children (a daughter and a son). An electrician by profession and hailing from Bhodiya village, Yadav battled financial hardships since childhood and had to drop out of the school after class VI.
Even though his income was paltry, Yadav always encouraged his children 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.
The 23-year-old lifter added yet another feather to her cap when she clinched a silver medal in the 53kg at the 2026 Glasgow Commonwealth Games on Monday. 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.
"She won a gold medal in powerlifting within six months of taking up the sport. However, I realised there is no future in powerlifting as it's not a part of the Olympic programme. So Gyaneshwari took up weightlifting," Yadav told this daily. His son Ritesh Kumar, who is three years younger to Gyaneshwari, too pursued the sport but then came a time when Yadav had to take a big call. "It was difficult for me to manage things when both were training professionally. As Gyaneshwari was doing good, I urged my son to give up weightlifting and he agreed."
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."
The government job provided some relief to the family even as Gyaneshwari graduated to the senior category. She later changed her weight category to 53kg and won a bronze medal at the 2026 Asian Championships.
Gyaneshwari, like any other woman lifter in the country, idolises ace Manipuri lifter Mirabai Chanu. But be it 49kg or 53kg, she has to compete with her role model for a place in the national team. With the International Weightlifting Federation revising the weight categories for the 2028 Los Angeles Games, Mirabai, who switched to 48kg from 49kg of late, has to move up to 53kg if she wishes to feature in her fourth Olympics. This also means Gyaneshwari has to fight for her place in the team with Mirabai once again.
"I never think in that way. She has to work hard and results will follow. We have endured a lot in our lifetime so far and this is nothing. If she is good enough, she will overcome every hurdle," signed off the father.
Gyaneshwari might miss the 2026 Asian Games like she did the last time but will hope to give former world champion and 2020 Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Mirabai a tough fight for the LA Games. The qualification period starts soon and the CWG silver medal will only motivate Gyaneshwari to better herself every time she climbs the weightlifting platform from now onwards.