Who was the first Indian woman to win an Olympic medal?

Karnam Malleswari made history by becoming the first Indian woman to win an Olympic medal, clinching bronze in the 69kg weightlifting category at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. It also marked India’s first-ever medal in weightlifting by any (male or female) athlete at the Olympics.

Her road to winning the bronze medal was marked by challenges as she was competing against a class of field including Lin Weining of China and Erzsebet Markus of Hungary. The trio was neck and neck, with all three participants lifting weights of 110kg each in the 'snatch' category.

However, it was the clean and jerk category where the real difference came into the picture. Lin Weining stunned everyone with a massive 132.5 kg lift in her maiden attempt, whereas Karnam and Markus managed 125 kg each.

In the second attempt, Weining couldn’t better her previous lift but the Hungarian went on to level with a 132.5 kg lift. Meanwhile, the Indian woman weightlifter lifted 130 kg. Ahead of the final clean and jerk lift, the aggregate scores stood at - Lin Weining (242.5 kg), Erzsebet Markus (242.5 kg), and Karnam Malleswari (240 kg).

Karnam trailed by 2.5 kg and had to lift a minimum of 132.5 kg to secure a silver medal. However, after guidance from his coaches, she decided to go for 137.5 kg - a lift that looked massive but was something that Karnam had done during her practice.

A perfect lift would have sealed a gold medal. Unfortunately, she faltered, and the barbell stuck to her knee, resulting in a fall. Although Karnam Malleswari missed out on gold, her bronze medal was a historic moment for women in Indian sports.

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How did Karnam Malleswari’s bronze medal inspire a generation of women in India?

Karnam Malleswari's bronze medal win at the 2000 Sydney Olympics was a groundbreaking moment for Indian sports. In the years following Malleswari's medal win, Indian women have gone on to win a total of seven more medals at the Summer Games.

Here is a list of Indian women Olympic winners:

• Karnam Malleswari - Bronze in Weightlifting (women's 54kg) at Sydney 2000
• Saina Nehwal - Bronze in Badminton (women's singles) at London 2012
• Mary Kom - Bronze in Boxing (women's flyweight) at London 2012
• PV Sindhu - Silver in Badminton (women's singles) at Rio 2016 and Bronze at Tokyo 2020
• Sakshi Malik - Bronze in Wrestling (women's 58kg) at Rio 2016
• Mirabai Chanu - Silver in Weightlifting (women's 49kg) at Tokyo 2020
• Lovlina Borgohain - Bronze in Boxing (women's welterweight) at Tokyo 2020