Hailing from Dadupur village of Varanasi, Punam Yadav has been the talk of the town for her stellar heroics in the recent Commonwealth Games. In what was a staggering piece of achievement, the 23-year-old Punam had won India a gold medal in weightlifting in the 69 kg category by lifting 100 kg in the snatch and 122 kg in clean-and-jerk strength standards.
After clinching the Gold, Punam, with heads high, proudly return home. She addressed the reporters and the fans with a grinning smile on her face. She said that she never dreamt of the gold but she believes that it all happened in her favour due to her guru’s blessings.
She then credited her parents, coach and the support staff of the Indian Weightlifting Federation for her success. “I never hoped or dreamed of the gold, but it happened, with the guru’s blessings,” she added. Punam’s father, Kailash Yadav was blissfully pleased as punch and appreciated the hard work that Punam had put into weightlifting.
Credits to Kailash Yadav for supporting her daughter even in tough times. He even sold their buffalo in order to meet the cost of Punam’s training which helped her to raise the bar for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014, where she won a Bronze medal.
Kailash was so supportive enough to steer her daughter into the comfort zone. He said that they had always prioritized Punam’s dreams over anything else, which finally paid off. After seeing her daughter touch the pinnacle of success, Kailash was happy to the core. He couldn’t have asked for a better outcome.
Punam’s teacher, Fatima was also extremely delighted with the news. Everyone who knew Punam congratulated her and the wishes kept pouring. She remarked that one can be successful in life if he or she has passion, courage. “If you have the passion, and the courage, then nothing else matters. You’ll be successful.”
“Now that people know me, I have access to training and other opportunities. If we had these things before, our journey would have been much easier, and success would have come sooner.”
