Harshada Garud: From rice bags to a World Record

India’s ace weightlifter, Mirabai Chanu, could never achieve it, managing only a bronze medal in 2013. Jhilli Dalabehera wrested a bronze in 2018 in the 48 kg weight category at Tashkent, while Achita Sheuli earned a silver in the 73 kg weight category in 2021. However, in May 2022, 18-year-old Harshada Garud became the first-ever Indian weightlifter to win a gold medal at the World Junior Weightlifting Championships at Heraklion in Greece.

It was not only the gold medal that came Harshada’s way, but with a lift of 70 kg in snatch and 83 kg in clean and jerk, she had a total lift of 153 kg and created a new world record in the 45 kg weight category for the juniors, three kilogrammes more than the silver medallist in the same event.

Born to Rekha and Sharad Garud at Wadgaon near Pune on 8 November 2003, Harshada has a very modest family background. Sharad, a pump operator and a one-time State-level weightlifter, saw the fructification of his own dream come through in his 13-year-old daughter, when he saw her carrying rice bags weighing 50 kg with absolute ease. He knew at once that he had a gem in his family.

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