Indian athlete Sanket Mahadev Sargar demonstrated incredible courage and perseverance and lifted India to glory as he secured India’s first medal at the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham by winning the silver medal in the men’s 55 kg weightlifting division.
Sanket lifted a total of 248kg (113 in Snatch + 135kg in C&J).
Speaking after the medal ceremony, the 21-year-old said, “I would like to dedicate my medal to India’s freedom fighters, I nearly teared up because I couldn’t win the gold medal. 5 years of hard work helped me win this medal. Everyone back home in Sangli would be happy, when I used to see my dad, I felt like changing our lives.”
Born on October 16, 2000, in Nagpur, Maharashtra’s Sangli village, he attends Shivaji University in Kolhapur and studies history there. He is currently 21 years old.
Sanket’s father works as ‘paan’ seller. Sanket himself began by selling fruit before saving up enough cash to start Sanket Paan, a paan store, followed by a breakfast and tea shop. But soon after realising that he has an interest in sports when he was 12 years old, his father took him to the Digvijay Vyayamshala, a weightlifting gym with a well-known coach.
Sanket shattered the national record in clean and jerk with his attempt of 138 kg at the Khelo India Univesity Games in 2020.
Later, Sanket won the gold medal at Commonwealth Weightlifting Championship in 2021 by setting a new national record in snatch with a 113 kg attempt in Tashkent.
He aims to win a medal for India at the Paris Olympics 2024.
“I want to make it to the 2024 Olympics and will have to move to 61kg. It will be a huge jump and it will take me two years to be fully prepared for it, but I’m determined to get there,” said Sargar in an interview.
“One thing I can tell you is that whatever comes my way my ambition won’t change. I want to get better and win an Olympic medal for my country,” he concluded.