Meena Kumari (weightlifter)
{{Short description|Indian weightlifter}}
{{Other people|Meena Kumari}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2024}}
{{Use Indian English|date=September 2024}}
{{Infobox sportsperson
|image = MeenakumariPawar13193.jpg
|caption = Meena Kumari showing face
|nationality = Indian
|birth_date = {{birth date and age|1994|8|15|df=yes}}
|birth_place = Punjab, India
|death_date =
|death_place =
|height = {{convert|1.60|m|ftin|abbr=on}} (2014)
|weight = {{convert|58|kg|lb|abbr=on}} (2014)
|country = {{IND}}
|sport = Weightlifting
|event = 58 kg
|olympics =
|highestranking = Snatch 90kg
Clean&jerk 125kg
|pb =
}}
Meena Kumari (born 15 August 1994) is an Indian weightlifter and Inspector in Punjabi Police, who placed fifth in the women's 58 kg weight class at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.{{cite web|url=http://results.glasgow2014.com/athlete/badminton/1009136/meena_kumari.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140806131634/http://results.glasgow2014.com/athlete/badminton/1009136/meena_kumari.html|url-status=usurped|archive-date=6 August 2014|title=Profile at 2014 CWG official website|access-date=2 August 2014}}{{cite web|url=http://results.glasgow2014.com/event/weightlifting/wlw058a01/womens_58kg_group_a.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140729132305/http://results.glasgow2014.com/event/weightlifting/wlw058a01/womens_58kg_group_a.html|url-status=usurped|archive-date=29 July 2014|title=Results of 58 kg weightlifting in 2014 CWG|access-date=2 August 2014}}{{cite web|url=http://www.newswala.com/Sports-News/Meena-Kumari-the-Indian-weightlifter-comes-5th-in-womens-58-kg-misses-bronze-at-2014-Commonwealth-Games-70932.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140802041644/http://www.newswala.com/Sports-News/Meena-Kumari-the-Indian-weightlifter-comes-5th-in-womens-58-kg-misses-bronze-at-2014-Commonwealth-Games-70932.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2 August 2014|title=Meena Kumari the Indian weightlifter comes 5th in women's 58 kg misses bronze at 2014 Commonwealth Games|publisher=News Wala|access-date=2 August 2014}}
Career
=Police service=
Kumari joined the Punjab police as a constable after attending college. By 2016, she was appointed to the post of Inspector in Punjabi Police.
=Sports career=
Kumari was previously a mountaineer and skydiver. She was selected for the 2007-8 National Cadet Corps expedition to Everest, though she did not participate.
Kumari took up weightlifting in 2008 when she attended college at the encouragement of her uncle, who himself participated. After joining the police she was coached by police weightlifter Saranjeet Kundan and sponsored by legislator Pawan Kumar Tinu. She won the gold medal in women's weightlifting in the 63 kg category at the All-India Police Games in December 2013, her third consecutive gold medal at these games. She lifted 110 kg in clean and jerk, two kilos better than her gold in the 58 kg category the previous year.
At the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in July 2014, Kumari came fifth in the 58 kg category, lifting a total of 194 kg,{{cite news|access-date=6 September 2024|url=https://www.india.com/news/india/indian-lifter-meena-kumar-stands-5th-in-womens-58-kg-bronze-at-cwg-2014-103721/|title=Indian lifter Meena Kumar stands 5th in women's 58 kg bronze at CWG 2014|work=Indo-Asian News Service|date=5 August 2014}} 83 kg in snatch and 111 kg in clean and jerk.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/commonwealth-games/28503356|title=Weightlifting: Women's 58kg results|department=BBC Sport|date=26 July 2014|access-date=6 September 2024}}
In May 2016 at the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Kumari successfully appealed a three-year ban imposed on her by the Indian Weightlifting Federation in November 2014 for unspecified alleged behaviour in training and at the Commonwealth Games. The high court set aside the ban.{{cite news|url=https://www.pressreader.com/india/hindustan-times-jalandhar/20160520/282415578518190|title=HC sets aside three-year ban on Punjab weightlifter|last=Sharma|first=Surender|work=Hindustan Times|date=20 May 2016|access-date=6 September 2024}}
In 2017, Kumari took part in the Senior National Powerlifting Championship in Kerala and won a silver medal in the deadlift and bronze in the squat, placing third in the 63 kg category.{{cite news|url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/archive/jalandhar/punjab-cops-notch-57-medals-in-police-games-457687|title=Punjab cops notch 57 medals in Police Games|work=The Tribune|date=26 August 2017|access-date=6 September 2024}}
Personal life
Kumari is from Jattewali village in Adampur, Punjab, where her father is a tailor. She has three older brothers.{{cite news|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/punjab/thrilled-by-the-weight-of-expectations/story-knIs9vx13Hhc3Qg0abjPFN_amp.html|title=Thrilled by the weight of expectations|work=Hindustan Times|date=19 December 2013|last=Bhalla|first=Sanjeev|access-date=6 September 2024}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IWF profile|11200}}
- {{CGF profile|66247}}
- {{2014 Commonwealth Games profile|weightlifting/1009136/meena_kumari}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kumari, Meena}}
Category:Indian female weightlifters
Category:Weightlifters from Punjab, India
Category:Sportswomen from Punjab, India
Category:People from Jalandhar district
Category:Indian women police officers
Category:Weightlifters at the 2014 Commonwealth Games
Category:Commonwealth Games competitors for India