Sangli’s Kajol Sargar bags gold at Khelo India Youth Games

“This is just the first step towards what I envision for myself in weightlifting. I aim to perform for my country in the international circuits soon,” she said.

Younger sibling to Commonwealth 2021 qualified weightlifter Sanket Sargar, Kajol started weightlifting at the age of 14. “My brother was already into weightlifting but it was not until the 2019 Khelo India Games held in Pune, that my father came across news clippings of the girls’ weightlifting team. It was then he pushed me to join my brother in the sport,” said Kajol, daughter of Mahadev Ananda Sargar, a tea shop owner and Rajshree Sargar.

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While the bronze in the nationals held in Patiala in August 2019 secured Kajol a place in the Khelo India Youth Games Maharashtra team, the pandemic hit the weightlifter’s training.

“I have been training with my coach for the past three years and the medal is the fruition of the hard work put in. In fact, my brother too advises me often on my diet, training and technique. The lockdown was hard for both my brother and me as sportspersons as the fitness centres were closed. I had put on some weight too and we were running on a tight budget at home. But our parents have been immensely supportive through it all and they have confidence in us that we will bring in laurels,” she said.

Kajol, a science student at Kasturbai Walchand College, said that while her first encounter with sports has been athletics when she was younger, she now juggles between her training three times a day, academics and looking after her family’s shop.