7 Facts You Must Know About Karnam Malleswari, First Indian Woman To Win An Olympic Medal

Before September 19, 2000, Karnam Malleswari was passed off as another nondescript weightlifter. After September 19, she became a household name, a celebrity whom news reporters chased for story bytes. After all, she had won a bronze medal in weightlifting at the Sydney Olympics. It's been seventeen years since she achieved this feat. With that, she also became the first Indian woman to win an Olympic medal.

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Here are seven facts you must know about the first woman Olympic champ of the country.

1. She received the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna in 1995 and the Padma Shri in 1999

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2. In 1994, she won gold at the World Weightlifting Championships in Istanbul

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3. Malleswari was born in Voosavanipeta, Andhra Pradesh. She has four sisters, who are all well trained in weightlifting

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4. She withdrew from the 2002 Commonwealth Games due to the death of her father

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5. She married fellow-weightlifter Rajesh Tyagi in 1997. She has a son who was born in 2001

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6. She failed to score in the 2004 Athens Olympics and retired soon after that

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7. She is currently living in Yamunanagar and is employed with the Food Corporation of India

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