Krishna Poonia (born 24 April 1977) is an international gold-medalist Indian discus thrower, track-and-field athlete, 2 times Olympics participant,

Padma Shri The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...

and

Arjuna Award The Arjuna Award, officially known as Arjuna Awards given for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games, is the second-highest sporting honour of India, the highest being the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. The award is named after Arjun ...

recipient, politician from the Congress party and the former MLA from Sadulpur constituency in Rajasthan.Krishna wins poll battle in Rajasthan in second attempt
''The Tribune''. Retrieved 13 December 2018 She participated in 2008 and 2012

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

. In 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games, she won a gold medal. She was appointed the President Of the Rajasthan State Sports Council in February 2022.

Early life

Poonia was born on 24 April 1977 (official 5 May 1977) in Jat family of Agroha village of Haryana's

Hisar district Hisar district is one of the 22 districts of Haryana, India. Hisar city serves as the district headquarters. Hisar district has four sub-divisions that is, Hisar, Barwala, Hansi and Narnaud, each headed by an SDM. The district is also part of ...

. She was raised by her father and paternal grandmother after her mother died when she was 9 years old. Krishna's physical fitness was honed as a result of working at her family land since the age of 15 and not exactly undergoing rigorous sports training. In 2000, she married Virender Singh Poonia, a former athlete who coached her after their marriage. They had a son in 2001. The couple worked for

Indian Railways Indian Railways is a state-owned enterprise that is organised as a departmental undertaking of the Ministry of Railways (India), Ministry of Railways of the Government of India and operates India's national railway system. , it manages the fou ...

but in 2013, Poonia resigned and joined the Congress. They live in

Jaipur Jaipur (; , ) is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the List of cities and towns in Rajasthan, largest city of the north-western States and union territories of India, Indian state of Rajasthan. , the city had ...

. Poonia obtained a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in

sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

from Kanoria PG Mahila Mahavidyalaya in

Career

2010 Commonwealth Games

Poonia became the first Indian woman athlete to win a gold medal at the

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, were an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth that was held in Delhi, India, from 3 to 14 October 201 ...

in New Delhi. Poonia led the historic clean sweep of the discus event by clearing 61.5 meters. She is the first Indian woman to win a gold medal in track and field events of Commonwealth Games and the first Indian to win a gold medal in such events after Milkha Singh who had won the gold in Men's 440 yards race in the 1958 Cardiff Commonwealth Games.

2012 London Olympics

She finished a creditable sixth in the women's discus throw in the 2012 London Olympics. Poonia's best effort of 63.62 m came in her fifth and penultimate attempt. She had 62.42 m in the first attempt and 61.61 in the third and 61.31 in the sixth and the final throw. She had two no-throws in the second and the fourth attempt. Earlier she became only the sixth Indian to make it to the final round of an Olympic track and field event after Milkha Singh, P T Usha, Sriram Singh, Gurbachan Singh Randhawa and Anju Bobby George.

Political career

In 2013, she joined the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

at an election rally in Churu – her husband's home district – in the presence of

Rahul Gandhi Rahul Rajiv Gandhi (; born 19 June 1970) is an Indian politician. A member of the Indian National Congress (INC), he is currently serving as the 12th leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha and as the member of the Lok Sabha for Rae Bareli Lok ...

and then chief minister

Ashok Gehlot Ashok Gehlot (born 3 May 1951) is an Indian politician who served as the Chief Minister of Rajasthan from 1998 to December 2003, then again from 2008 to December 2013, and later from 2018 to December 2023. He represents Sardarpura (Vidhan Sabha ...

after she was approached by the Congress's leadership.Electoral Triumph Same As Winning Gold: Congress Candidate Krishna Punia
NDTV, 26 November 2018. In 2013 Rajasthan Legislative Assembly election, she contested and lost her first election from the Sadulpur Assembly constituency as Congress candidate where she finished third behind BJP and BSP. In 2018 Rajasthan Legislative Assembly election, she contested again and won the same seat on a Congress ticket, by a margin of 18084 votes after receiving 70020 votes. In 2019 Lok Sabha Elections, Poonia was nominated by Congress from the Jaipur Rural constituency. She contested against Olympian Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore of the BJP. She lost to Rathore by a margin of 393171 votes. Poonia has been helping Rajasthan State Health Ministry in its attempt to curb female foeticide as the selective abortion of female fetuses is a pressing concern in India especially in Haryana where Poonia grew up. She is also engaged in improving the infrastructure of sports for children in Jaipur and across the country.

Honours

, fourth highest civilian award of India (2011) *

, second highest sporting honour of India (2010)

References

External links