Malleshwari - South Asian of the year
UNI
Twenty-five-year-old Olympic bronze medalist, Karnam Malleshwari has been named South Asian of the year
by the TIME Asia's web column, Subcontinental Drift.
Malleshwari, who picked up the bronze medal in the 69-kg weightlifting category in Sydney this summer, is the first woman
from India to stand on an Olympic podium.
Since 1990, she has won a clutch of medals in world wrestling championships: 2 gold and a bronze in Turkey in 1994, 3 golds in
China the following year. She also won three golds at the Asian championships in Korea in 1995 and another in Japan in 1996.
In a press release at New Delhi , TIME noted that despite her impressive track record, few Indian sports pundits expected her to win anything at the Olympics. ''One magazine even carped at her private life, implying she lacked the will to win because she drank beer!''. Nevertheless, Malleswari has overcome incredible odds and ''showed
them all,'' the magazine said.
