Anne Maria M T, the daughter of an auto driver, won gold in the women’s 87kg+ category weightlifting at the second Khelo India University Games in Bengaluru on Wednesday, breaking another national record.
Maria, a postgraduate student at Alva’s College in Moodabidri, is the daughter of Timothy, a Thrissur-based auto rickshaw driver, and Gemini, a state-level shot thrower.
Maria is said to have performed exceptionally well in both the clean and jerk and the snatch movements assessed at the games in the weightlifting area. The clean and jerk is a weightlifting maneuver that combines two different exercises. The lifter pulls the barbell from the ground to a racked position over the deltoids without fully resting on the clavicles during the ‘clean.’ The lifter raises the barbell over the head to a stationary posture, finishing with straight arms and legs and feet in the same plane as the torso and barbell.
The snatch is responsible for lifting the barbell from the ground to overhead continuously. Maria reportedly lifted 230 kgs total at the Jain University campus, including 129 kg in clean and jerk, while fellow competitor Manpreet Kaur lifted 128kgs and 101 kg in snatch.
Last month, Maria set her first national record with a total lift of 231 kilograms in the Nationals. The two-time national champion had previously stated that she became interested in the sport while attempting to shed weight. “My mother encouraged me to join a gym because she wanted me to lose weight. That gym was where I was first introduced to weightlifting, and it was there that I began my adventure in the sport “According to News 18, Maria stated.
