Tea vendor’s daughter Sargar first gold medallist of Khelo Games

TIL Desk Sports/ Maharashtra’s Kajol Sargar made everyone stand up and take notice as the young weightlifter stormed to the gold medal at the Khelo India Youth Games 2021 in Panchkula, Haryana, on Sunday. The daughter of a tea stall vendor, Sargar’s only connection with sport until three years ago was her daily visits to a local gymnasium to watch her elder brother Sanket train as a weightlifter.

The 16-year-old from Sangli in Maharashtra also watched in awe as her brother steadily rose up the ranks to become one of India’s top lifters; but that didn’t inspire her enough to take up the sport. All that changed in 2019, when she saw Rupa Hangandi, also from Sangli, clinching the gold medal in the Khelo India Youth Games in Pune.

“My brother is more than five years older than me. I never really talked sport with him before,” Sargar said after becoming the first gold medallist at the Khelo India Youth Games 2021. “It was only after learning about Rupa Hangandi’s success in the Khelo India Youth Games that I felt that I should also try weightlifting,” she added.