India’s Harshada wins historic junior world weightlifting gold

Sharad Shantaram Garud couldn't stop beaming. As the news of his daughter, Harshada, winning a historic gold at the Junior Weightlifting World Championships on Monday came in, excited neighbours and journalists made a beeline to Sharad 's humble home in Vadgaon Maval, a town in Maharashtra's Pune district. His phone kept ringing non-stop as well, but the proud father wasn’t one bit irritated.

“I have never been this happy. Harshada has fulfilled my dream,” the 45-year-old said after his daughter became the first Indian, boy or girl, to win a world junior title. Sharad’s own promising weightlifting career had ended by the time he turned 17, having only represented his state at school level. “My father didn’t earn enough to support my sporting pursuit. He passed away before I turned 18, which meant it was up to me to feed my two brothers and two sisters. Naturally, weightlifting ceased to be an option,” he said.

A young Sharad vowed to groom his child into a champion weightlifter, and 28 years on, as 18-year-old Harshada (45kg) lifted a total of 153 kg (70 kg snatch, 83 kg clean and jerk) to win the title in Heraklion, Greece, Sharad’s dream had come true.

Harshada's top finish is a first for an Indian at the junior worlds, after Mirabai Chanu won bronze (2013) and Achinta Sheuli finished with silver (2021).

“I am very happy with my lifts. I expected to win a medal here, but gold is beyond my expectations,” Harshada, who looks up to Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Mirabai Chanu, said from Greece.

She has been a consistent performer in age-group competitions, winning gold (under-17) in the Khelo India Youth Games in 2020 and bronze in the Asian junior championships in Tashkent later that year.

“All her lifts were quite impressive today. She has been competing in international events for three years now, you’ll hear about this girl more often,” said coach Pramod Sharma, who is travelling with the contingent.

Harshada took up weightlifting when she was 13 after her father took her to coach Biharilal Dube’s training facility—Dube Gurukul—in their town. The septuagenarian could quickly tell the young girl had potential.

“My past four generations were all wrestlers, but I took a detour to weightlifting. However, we are conditioned to spot certain attributes. She had impressive physique and power for her age, but most importantly, she had the humility to learn and toil,” he said.

“Before she left for Greece, my only advice to Harshada was to stay calm and not commit a foul. When I saw her first lift, I knew she was on to something special. It sounds a bit dramatic, but I couldn’t stop my tears when she won gold,” Dube, who followed the action on YouTube, said.

Turkey's Bektas Cansu took silver with a combined lift of 150 kg and Moldova’s Hincu Teodora-Luminita the bronze with a 149kg effort.

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