India's Harjinder Kaur delivered a record-breaking performance to win silver in women's 69kg weightlifting category at the Commonwealth Games 2026. In Glasgow, the 29-year-old lifted a total of 227 kg including 101kg in snatch and 126kg in clean and jerk.
Harjinder was successful in all her attempts but missed out on a gold. She also achieved Games record before Canada's Charlotte Simoneau proved that she is in a different league altogether. The 20-year-old lifted 108kg in snatch and 132kg in clean and jerk category. She lifted 13kg more than Harjinder overall to assert her dominance at the event and win the gold medal.
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Charlotte breaks Harjinder’s records with first attempts
While Harjinder lifted 96kg, 99kg and 101kg in her three snatch attempts, Charlotte started with 104kg. She went on to lift 108kg but failed to lift 111kg. In the clean and jerk round, Harjinder lifted 120kg, 123kg and 126kg. But, Charlotte started with 127kg, following it up with 132kg. However, in her third clean and jerk attempt, she couldn't lift 135kg.
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Meanwhile, Australia's Nya Phebe Hayman won the bronze medal with a total lift of 218kg.
Harjinder’s previous achievements
Hailing from Nabha, from Patiala district in Punjab, Harjinder had won a bronze medal in the previous edition of Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. But, she won that medal in the 71kg category. Last year, she won a bronze medal in Commonwealth Championships as well. In 2021 Commonwealth Youth Games, she won her previous silver medal, that too in the 71kg category.
Harjinder on how she built strong arms
Earlier, in an interview with Indian Express, Harjinder had said that operating the toka, a chaff cutting machine for fodder helped her develop strong arms. It is a common machine in farmers' households. Before establishing herself as a weightlifter, her talent was noticed in a tug-of-war game.
“My father would give me Rs 350 for the return fare from Nabha to the college hostel in Sri Anandpur Sahib and another Rs 350 as pocket money. I felt ashamed to ask for more money,” Harjinder had said before The Games.
“If I win a medal, I would say that the fodder I cut on a toka helped me build strong arms and it helped me when I took up weightlifting,” she added.