Who is Sanket Mahadev Sargar, son of a ‘paan’ seller who won India’s first CWG 2022 medal?
On the second day of the quadrennial event, Sanket Mahadev Sargar became the first Indian to win a medal at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, taking silver in weightlifting. Proud moment for India right? Let’s find out more about Sanket and his family background.
About Sanket Mahadev Sargar
Sanket lives in Sangli, Maharashtra, where his father, Mahadev, runs a ‘paan’ shop and food stall while the lifter struggles to find work. His childhood coach, Mayur Sinhasane, revealed that Sanket used to get up early in the morning to help his father at his Paan store before going to the gym for training.
His coach said “Sanket has sacrificed his entire childhood. From waking up at 5:30 am to making tea for customers to going to the gym later in the evening, he dreamt of only one thing. He had only one dream and that was to bring laurels to the country in weightlifting and give a good life to his family. Now his dream is coming true.”
He revealed that Sanket has been fulfilling his father’s incomplete dream to be a weightlifter. The Sargar family, in fact, went through some tough times before Sanket was picked for the national team. “Sanket neither had a sponsor nor was financially well off before getting into TOPS. His father would take care of his sport by borrowing and we would take full care of his diet and exercise. Sometimes his father could return the money, sometimes not, but we never let it become a hindrance in Sanket’s training.”
The Victory
Sanket, who was born on October 16, 2000, broke the national record in clean and jerk with a 138 kg attempt at the Khelo India University Games in 2020. Later, in 2021, Sanket won the gold medal at the Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships in Tashkent by setting a new national record in the snatch with a 113 kg attempt.
This year he lifted a total of 248kg (113 in Snatch + 135kg in C&J). Malaysia’s Bin Kasdan Mohamad Aniq won the gold medal as he completed a lift of 142kg in clean & jerk to take his total to 249kg, overshadowing the Indian weightlifter’s tally by just 1 kg.
Sanket is known to be a little shy, and he doesn’t speak to anyone except his support staff during competitions. He hopes to win a medal for India at the 2024 Olympics in Paris. Liked this post? Don’t forget to check out our other short stories in our Quick Read section.