Who is Harjinder Kaur? Punjab weightlifter wins Silver at Commonwealth Games 2026
Harjinder Kaur wins silver for India at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games 2026. Meet the Punjab based weightlifter who won in the women's 69kg weightlifting event at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games 2026, with a personal-best 227kg lift.
Harjinder Kaur has turned years of hard work into another memorable achievement by winning the silver medal in the women's 69kg weightlifting event at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. After settling for bronze at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in 2022, the Punjab weightlifter arrived in Scotland with one goal to return home with a better medal. She achieved exactly that by producing the best performance of her career on the Commonwealth stage.
Who is Harjinder Kaur?The 29-year-old lifted a personal-best 227kg in total, including 101kg in the snatch and 126kg in the clean and jerk. Along the way, she twice broke the Commonwealth Games record in the snatch and also set new marks in the clean and jerk before Canada's Charlotte Simoneau eventually claimed gold. Harjinder's silver added another medal to India's successful weightlifting campaign in Glasgow.
From Punjab's Nabha to the Commonwealth podiumBehind Harjinder's success is a story of determination and sacrifice. She comes from Nabha in Punjab, where her family faced financial challenges while supporting her sporting ambitions. Every trip from her hometown to her college hostel in Sri Anandpur Sahib reminded her of the sacrifices her parents made so she could continue training.
Speaking about those difficult days, Harjinder had once said:"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."
Those small amounts represented a family's unwavering belief in their daughter's dream. Today, that faith has been rewarded with medals on the international stage.
Harjinder has also credited her childhood for helping shape her strength.
"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."
Career built one medal at a timeHarjinder has steadily established herself among India's leading weightlifters over the past few years. She won the silver medal at the 2021 Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships in Tashkent with a total lift of 211kg.
Her breakthrough at the Commonwealth Games came in Birmingham 2022, where she claimed bronze in the women's 71kg category after lifting a total of 212kg. Rather than being satisfied, Harjinder treated that medal as motivation to improve further.
Earlier this year, she also impressed at the 2026 Asian Weightlifting Championships in Gandhinagar, winning bronze in the snatch with a 96kg lift and finishing fourth overall with a total of 217kg.
Silver today, gold tomorrowGlasgow has become a defining chapter in Harjinder Kaur's career. She not only upgraded her Commonwealth medal from bronze to silver but also achieved personal-best lifts while competing against some of the world's strongest weightlifters.
Her journey from a small town in Punjab to the Commonwealth Games podium is a reminder that perseverance and family support can overcome even the toughest obstacles. With silver now around her neck, Harjinder has already set her sights on the next challenge. Her mission for the 2030 Commonwealth Games is clear to take one final step and turn silver into gold.