Story of Krishna Poonia : Sporting culture of India has been changed drastically over the years. There are lots of girls that too from the unprivileged background are started making big in the international arena which is the welcome change. Sporting facilities are now reached villages thanks to the infrastructure developments undertaken by state and central governments across the country.
Parents are also allowing their kids to take up the sports as their career opportunity and former sportspersons are also playing a vital role in the development of sports. They are running the sports centers and guiding and nurturing lots of young people to take up the sports. Not only men but also women are also making big in their respective sports these days. there are lots of women athletes are arriving day by day and are making their presence felt. Recently concluded Asian games are the prime example for this.
Things are not same as like now in the 1990s and early 2000s. Women athletes have to face lots of hurdles in order to get success in international events. Lack of awareness, infrastructure facilities and guidance made things even worse. Behind this many athletes are raised their bars and brought laurels to the country and Krishna Poonia is one among them.
The Early life of Krishna Poonia
One of the best Indian discus throwers Krishna Poonia was born in Agroha village in Haryana on 5th May 1982. Born in a humble jat family Krishna Poonia was very much interested in sports during her childhood days. during her schooling, she actively participated in various sports but when she started her graduate studies in sociology at Kanodia Girls College in Rajasthan discuss throwing impressed her a lot. She started participating in regional level events and performed exceptionally well. This led to her participation in national and state level events where she continues to impress with her performance.
She got married to Virender Singh Poonia who is also an athlete of Gagarwas village in the Churu district in the Rajasthan. They live in Jaipur and both are working in Indian railways. After her marriage, her husband Virender Singh Poonia is instrumental in her success. Her game was improved a lot under the invaluable guidance of her husband-coach. In an interview, Krishna Poonia was extremely thankful to her husband and she went on to say that he is a pillar of her all success and without him, she could not have achieved anything.
Her Sporting Career
In 2006, Krishna Poonia won the bronze medal in Doha Asian games by throwing her best of 61.53m. She won the gold medal in the 46th Open National athletics championships in the same year. In 2008 Beijing Olympics, she failed to qualify for the finals as she settled for the 10th place in the qualification rounds by throwing only 58.23m. In 2010 commonwealth games, Krishna Poonia becomes the first Indian women athlete who won the gold medal in the history of commonwealth games.
She made the historic sweep at the event by making the 61.5m throw. In the history of commonwealth games, she is the first Indian women who won the gold medal in the track and field events category. She also made the new record of becoming the first Indian to win gold in such events after the Milkha Singh who bagged the gold medal in Men’s 440 yards race in the year 1958 Cardiff commonwealth games. On 8th May 2012, she surpassed her previous best outing and created the new national record by throwing 64.76 meters in Hawaii, United States.
Krishna Poonia was successfully completed the credible six in the 2012 London Olympics of the women’s discus throw by becoming the first Indian to reach that mark. Besides this, she is a bronze medal winner of 2010 Guangzhou Asian games and also the bronze medal winner of 2006 Doha Asian games discus throw.
Awards and achievements of Krishna Poonia
- Krishna Poonia was awarded Arjuna award immediately after her victory in 2010 commonwealth games.
- She was awarded Padma Shri in 2010 for her extraordinary contribution to the sports.
- The government of Rajasthan honored her by awarding maharana Pratap award in 2010
- She got Bhavani Singh Samman award from the royal family of Rajasthan.
Krishna Poonia’s entry into politics
Krishna Poonia made her grand entry into politics by participating in the huge rally organized by ruling party congress in 2013. Congress supremo Rahul Gandhi also participated in the event. After resigning from the northwestern railway she immediately joined Congress in the same year. She got the ticket from Sadulpur assembly constituency where she lost to BJP candidate.
She has been actively involved in social services activities and also helping young generation people to take up the sport in the state. She is also contributing to women welfare associations and actively involved in the campaigns related to women empowerment.
Interesting Facts about Krishna Poonia
- Once her husband Virendra revealed that she actively participated in basketball, handball, and discus throw events but she was not serious enough to take up the particular discipline as her career opportunity but considering her six-foot frame he pushed her into discus throwing.
- Krishna Poonia considers her gold medal win at commonwealth games is the highest point of her career.
- She is also one of the few athletes who are coached by their husbands and she describes that having Virendra as his husband and coach is the blessing and he is the pillar of her all successes. The couple is living in Rajasthan and is blessed with a boy.
Coming from the humble background and achieving at the international level is not an easy task. It requires lots of hard work and patience. Krishna Poonia has done that over the years and continues to inspire many budding female athletes. Thanks for her service to the nation that inspires many young talents.
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