Daughter of an autorickshaw driver, Indian teenager achieves her dream

Dubai: Born into a modest family in Maharashtra’s Karad town, Asmita Dhone grew up watching her father drive an autorickshaw and her mother tend to cows on a small plot of farmland. This week, she lifted her family’s dreams to new heights — and a couple of national records along the way.

The 18-year-old from Satara district clinched gold in the 49kg weightlifting category at the ongoing Khelo India Youth Games in Rajgir, rewriting two youth national records she herself had set five months ago.

Asmita first cleared 95kg in clean and jerk, breaking her old mark of 94kg set at the Commonwealth Championships in Doha. She then added two more kilos to lift 97kg, taking her total to a record 170kg — a full 8kg improvement from her previous best.

Uttar Pradesh’s Mansi Chamunda (75kg snatch + 88kg clean and jerk) took silver but also made headlines with a new youth national snatch record, surpassing Assam’s Panchami Sonowal’s 2022 mark.

Asmita began weightlifting in Class 7 under the guidance of coach Samrat Pawar — the same coach who trained her elder sister. “Samrat sir asked me to try lifting too, and that’s how it all started,” she told SAI Media. “I’m very happy I broke the national record.”

She has since collected an impressive medal haul: gold at the 2023 World Youth Championships in Suva (158kg total), gold at the Commonwealth Youth Championships in Noida (136kg), and bronzes at both the Asian and World Youth meets. At home, she’s dominated the IWLF Youth Nationals for three straight years from 2022 to 2024.

A Khelo India scholarship holder, Asmita now trains at the Sports Authority of India’s Netaji Subhash National Institute of Sports (NIS) in Patiala, a National Centre of Excellence.

“The Khelo India stipend of ₹10,000 is a great help for someone like me,” she said. “My father drives an autorickshaw, my mother looks after two cows at home. We’ve always managed with very little, but now I have the support I need to pursue my dreams.”

Her journey from a small-town farm to the national podium is a testament to grit, talent — and a barbell that keeps getting heavier.

- With inputs from IANS