Bhubaneswar: Pumping iron daily to become a weightlifter is no doubt a rugged and hazardous job. But it can pay rich rewards if practised with dedication, devotion, and under proper guidance. Young Odisha lifter Swayamjit Prasad Sahoo proved it by striking gold on his international debut at the Commonwealth Weightlifting Championship in Suva, Fiji on Wednesday.
The 17-year-old lifter from Sariapada village in Odisha’s Dhenkanal district clinched gold in the 67 kg youth category with a total lift of 247 kg – 109 kg in snatch and 138 kg in clean & jerk.
This is the first-ever gold medal in any tournament for Swayamjit, who trains under foreign coaches at Odisha-Tenvic Weightlifting High Performance Centre, Kalinga Stadium.
His previous best achievement was a bronze medal at the National Weightlifting Championship in Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh, on January 1, 2024.
Swayamjit’s golden journey from Sariapada to Suva is an exciting story, which started with weightlifting coach Gopal Krushna Das spotting him at his school.
But it was not easy for Das to bring the boy to his self-run training centre at the indoor stadium in Dhenkanal because Biranchi Prasad Sahoo, a jute mill worker, and his wife Soubhagini were averse to the idea of their son lifting weights. They feared it might stunt his height, break his back and ruin his future.
“Swayamjit’s parents even changed their house to keep me at bay. It took me six months to convince them that nothing wrong will happen to their son. I was keen to bring Swayamjit to the gym as I noticed a gifted talent in him,” recalls Das, who now works as head coach of the Dhenkanal Sub-Centre of the Odisha Weightlifting HPC.
“Swayamjit started training in September 2018 and honed his skills for three years in Dhenkanal before graduating to the HPC in Bhubaneswar. He is a hardworking lifter and can win greater laurels for the state and country in the future,” added Das.
Mina Santa’s National Record
There was more good news for Odisha on Wednesday as the Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWLF) announced that Mina Santa had set a National Record in 55 kg youth category while winning the gold medal at the Commonwealth Championship in Suva on Tuesday.
Mina, also a trainee of Odisha Weightlifting HPC, lifted 81 kg in snatch, 99 kg in clean & jerk and 180 kg in total on way to gold.
Odisha Weightlifting Association president Chitta Ranjan Swain and secretary K Ravi Kumar, an Olympian and Commonwealth Games gold-medallist, congratulated Swayamjit and Mina for their glorious achievements.