Meet Preetismita Bhoi, 15YO Weightlifter Scripts New World Record

Indian weightlifter Preetismita Bhoi scripted history as she smashed the world record and secured a gold medal at the IWF World Youth Weightlifting Championships 2024 in Lima, Peru, on May 22. The 15-year-old from Odisha earned laurels when she bettered the existing world record (75kg), lifting 76kg in the women's 40-kilogram clean and jerk category. Bhoi lifted a total of 133 kg, which includes 57 Kg in the snatch section and 76 kg on her final attempt in clean and jerk. She won gold medals in all three categories-- snatch, clean and jerk, and total lift.

India Shines At Youth Weightlifting Championships 

Preetismita Bhoi made the nation proud when she clinched the gold medal and scripted a new world record for youth weightlifting. The 15-year-old trains at the Odisha Weightlifting HPC Centre in Dhenkanal with her coach, Gopal Das. He told Sportstar, "We had targeted the World Championships this year, in preparation for the Youth Olympics and Commonwealth Games. We were working hard for this [breaking the world record] and [Preeti] showed a lot of dedication and sacrifice to reach the target."

🥇WITH A WORLD RECORD 💥

Preetismita Bhoi makes a new Youth World record (76 Kg) in Clean and Jerk category of Women's 40 Kg to claim the Gold medal at IWF World Youth Championships. 🏋️‍♀️👏#weightlifting pic.twitter.com/4wzgbZbVvK

— The Bridge (@the_bridge_in) May 23, 2024

Another Indian weightlifter, Jyoshna Sabar, won two medals in the same weight category. She claimed the silver medal in both snatch (56 Kg) and total lift (125 Kg) while missing out on the clean and jerk medal, finishing in fourth (69 Kg) place. Sabar trains at the HPC Bhubaneswar under the mentorship of Katalu Ravi Kumar, gold medallist at the Common Wealth Games 2010.

Ravi Kumar, who is currently serving as the General Secretary of the Odisha Weightlifting Association said, "Getting selected to represent the country in the Youth Championships is an achievement in itself. In the last two years, Odisha has dominated the U14 category,” as quoted in Sportstar.

In the 45kg category, Payal secured a silver medal. She accumulated a total lift of 147 kg-- snatch (65 Kg) and clean and jerk (82 Kg). Meanwhile, in the men's 49kg category, Babulal Hembram won a bronze medal. Last season, at the Youth Weightlifting Championships in Albania, Indian weightlifters secured one silver medal and four bronzes.