Raipur, 27 March (H.S.):

Nineteen‑year‑old Monika Sonowal, the daughter of a construction worker, has defied injury, doubt and modest beginnings to win the women’s 48kg weightlifting gold at the first Khelo India Tribal Games (KITG) 2026 in Raipur. Just moments after clinching the top step of the podium, she smiled as she tried to call her father, knowing he was likely still busy at his worksite. The gold medal was her way of repaying a man whose daily grind has supported her family and fuelled her dreams.

Monika hails from Betghoria Penbeni Chawk in the Dhemaji district of Assam, a quiet riverside hamlet on the northern banks of the Brahmaputra, roughly 425 kilometres from Guwahati. Life here is simple, with most families focused on meeting everyday needs. For many, the idea of a national stage seems distant. But for Monika, the clink of the barbell inside the weightlifting hall became the sound of a different kind of future—one that refused to be confined by circumstance.

Born into the Kachari tribal community, Monika’s journey took shape despite scarce resources. Her curiosity for the sport gradually turned into a stubborn passion, inspired by Tokyo Olympic silver medallist Mirabai Chanu of neighbouring Manipur.

A turning point came two years ago when she joined the Sports Authority of India’s National Centre of Excellence (NCOE) in Itanagar. There, she said, she received what she had only dared to dream of: proper training, nutrition, recovery support and expert coaching. “Without this support, it would have been very difficult to reach here,” she added.

Her progress since then has been steady. In 2023 she won gold at the School Nationals, followed by a silver at the Khelo India Asmita League meet in Sambalpur, Odisha, in 2024, a bronze at the state championships in Tezpur in 2025, and an eighth‑place finish at the inter‑university championship in Chandigarh the same year.

But the road to KITG 2026 was far from easy.

For the past three months, Monika has been nursing a right‑knee injury sustained in training. Worried about aggravating it, her coaches advised her to skip the Khelo India Tribal Games altogether. Yet the 19‑year‑old refused to let the opportunity slip.

“My coaches were worried about my knee and they told me it would be better to rest,” she said. “But chances like the Khelo India Tribal Games do not come again and again. I did not want to lose the chance to compete on such a big stage.”

Competing in pain, she lifted 57kg in snatch and 75kg in the clean and jerk, finishing with a total of 132kg to claim gold in the women’s 48kg category.

The silver went to Deepa Rani Mallik of Odisha (120kg), while Alaaska Aleena of Andaman and Nicobar Islands took bronze (111.6kg).

For Monika, this gold is just the start. “I want to keep getting better and, one day, represent India at the international level. This medal is only the beginning,” she said, wiping away tears as her father’s unknown call went to voicemail. The mason who quietly builds bridges with concrete might never lift a barbell, but his daughter, on the grandest stage yet, has already lifted their family’s name into the light.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar