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Harjinder Kaur, daughter of a marginal farmer from Mehas village, Patiala district, won a silver medal in the women’s 69 kg weightlifting event at the 2026 Commonwealth Games (CWG) on 28 Jul in Glasgow. Recalling the family's journey, Harjinder’s brother Pritpal Singh said, ‘There was a time when people criticized our family for encouraging our daughter to pursue sports, but we never paid attention to such remarks.’ Arranging money for Harjinder’s training, diet, and travel to competitions was a constant challenge. Recognizing her passion and talent, her father, Sahib Singh, took loans to ensure she could continue chasing her dream. Additionally, Lovepreet Singh from Bal Sikander village, Amritsar district, shattered the CWG snatch record and came close to gold before finishing just a kilogram behind New Zealand's David Andrew Liti to claim silver in the men's 110 kg weightlifting competition. Lovepreet’s father is a tailor, while his grandparents earned a living selling vegetables. Encouraged by his family to pursue sport instead of the family profession, he took up weightlifting at the age of 13 and has since emerged as one of India's leading heavyweight lifters. Furthermore, Gulveer Singh from Aligarh district in Uttar Pradesh etched his name in the history books as he became the first-ever Indian to win a CWG medal in the men's 5K m final. He is also the first-ever Indian to win a medal in both 5K m (bronze) and 10K m (silver) in the same edition of the CWG, and became the first Indian to win two medals in a single edition of an athletics event at the competition. Ishroop Narang from Chandigarh gave her all in the bronze medal play-off but lost to Canadian Coralie Godbout as India's Judo campaign ended without any medal on the concluding day of the CWG on 2 Aug. As the curtain came down on India's campaign in the 2026 CWG, the contingent signed off with 39 medals—13 gold, 17 silver, and nine bronze. It was a campaign defined by historic firsts in boxing, para sports, and judo, as the Indian contingent produced one of its most memorable performances despite a reduced sporting program. Jaismine Lamboria from Bhiwani, Haryana, who won the gold medal in the 57 kg weight class in boxing, was the country's flag-bearer during the closing ceremony (earlier coverage).
CWG 26 Silver Medalist Weightlifter Harjinder Kaur | Photo by The Tribune
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