Greater Noida, Jul 14 (PTI) “Start weightlifting, you will get more food to eat,” was the promise reigning national champion Ajith N’s maternal uncle made to his nephew to coax him into taking up the sport.
Born to a humble family, the Tamil Nadu weightlifter’s parents struggled to make ends meet. Ajith’s father moved from Sathuvachari village in Vellore district to Bengaluru in search of better opportunities but had to contend with being a fruit seller.
“I was in Bengaluru till 8th standard. My mama (maternal uncle) was a weightlifter in Western Railways. He got me into lifting. He used to help me with my practice and always pushed me to do better,” Ajith told PTI.
“My mama told me if I do lifting I will get more food to it. That is why I started. My father was a fruit seller in Bengaluru, life was difficult for us.” Ajith finally started weightlifting about 10 years ago but it wasn’t until 2018 that he started training seriously.
“I started training in Vellore when I was 14 but I was not very serious at first. I used to return to Bengaluru mid training then go back again.
“My parents were supportive of me taking up weightlifting, but my mama took care of everything, he helped me financially,” Ajith said.
His family’s financial condition was something that was always on his mind until he landed a job in Railways, but that came at a cost.
“My parents are still unemployed, they are also not in very good health, so they stay home. I needed to be financially stable so I took up a job in Railways.” “Once I got the job, I had my duty to fulfil and my training suffered. I could train only after an eight-hour shift and thus couldn’t prepare well for the Commonwealth Games trials.” Ajith lost the Commonwealth Games spot to eventual CWG gold medallist and rival Achinta Sheuli. Since then, the 23-year-old has gone on to win the National Games and National Championships, where he shattered the national record in clean and jerk.
“I have been fighting with him (Achinta) for three years, we both were lifting similar totals and the winner would depend on whoever’s day it used to be.
“But after missing the CWG, I made a comeback at the Nationals and lifted 174kg clean and jerk, which was a national record.” Ajith’s time at the national camp has also not been the smoothest but he has settled down there now.
“In 2021 I came into national camp to give Commonwealth Games trials but then I left it because the performance wasn’t there. That was also the quarantine period, we had to stay inside. I was mentally stressed.” The Tamil Nadu lifter won the 73kg gold at the ongoing Commonwealth Championships on Friday with an effort of 308kg (138kg+170kg), which is way below his personal best of 145kg in snatch and 175kg in clean and jerk.
Ajith hopes he can increase his numbers in the upcoming World Championships and Asian Games and qualify for the Olympics.
“This is not my best but it’s okay. I had the Asian Games trials 15 days before, so I didn’t get much time for recovery.” “My aim is to reach 320kg at the World Championships. Qualifying for the Olympics is a bit difficult but I will try my best to get into the to 10,” Aijith said.
Source: PTI News
