India’s Harjinder Kaur clinched the silver medal in the women’s 69kg weightlifting event at the Commonwealth Games 2026 on Tuesday, lifting a combined 227kg to continue the country’s strong run in the sport.
Harjinder opened with a 101kg snatch before recording a best lift of 126kg in the clean and jerk to finish second on the podium.
Canada’s Charlotte Simoneau won gold with a total of 240kg (108kg snatch, 132kg clean and jerk), while Australia’s Nya Phebe Hayman took bronze with 218kg.
Harjinder secured silver with a successful final clean and jerk attempt of 126kg after remaining in medal contention throughout the competition.
The medal takes India’s weightlifting tally at Glasgow 2026 to seven — one gold, five silver and one bronze. Saikhom Mirabai Chanu won the women’s 49kg gold, while Rishikanta Singh Chanambam, Raja Muthupandi, Valluri Ajaya Babu, Gyaneshwari Yadav and Harjinder claimed silver medals. Bindyarani Devi Sorokhaibam has won the lone bronze so far.
Born into a farming family in Punjab’s Mehas village near Nabha, Harjinder overcame financial hardship before taking up weightlifting at the age of 20 while studying at Punjabi University, Patiala. She had initially trained as a kabaddi player, with years of manual farm work helping develop the upper-body strength that later became a key asset in her weightlifting career.
-IANS
