Odisha duo shine on world stage : Preetismita Bhoi sets World Record with Gold, Jyoshna Sabar wins Silver at World Youth Weightlifting Championships

Bhubaneswar : Today, athletes from Odisha, Preetismita Bhoi set a new World Record at the IWF World Youth Weightlifting Championships in Lima, Peru, while her peer Jyoshna Sabar also made her mark by securing the silver medal in the same competition and category.

Competing in the 40 Kg category, 16-year-old, Preetismita Bhoi clinched the gold medal following a total effort of 133 Kg (57Kg +76Kg), besting the previous record of 75kg. Jyoshna Sabar logged a performance of 125 Kg (56Kg + 69Kg) to finish with the silver medal.

Both athletes honed their skills at the Odisha Weightlifting High Performance Centre at Kalinga Stadium, with Preetismita training at the sub-centre in Dhenkanal and Jyoshna training at the Weightlifting HPC in Bhubaneshwar. Notably, the HPC is supplemented by a network of over 40 grassroots weightlifting centers in the state that currently train over 500 athletes, playing a vital role in nurturing and developing talented weightlifters in Odisha.

Speaking on the girls’ success, former Olympian and head coach of the weightlifting HPC, K Ravi Kumar said, “Today is a historic day for Odisha. We are very proud of both our athletes. Preetismita has been training very hard over the last few months and Jyoshna is coming back from foot surgery. We did think we might get a medal, but we did not expect our athletes to do so well. The success is proof of the rapid growth of weightlifting in Odisha.”