Achinta Sheuli

Some Lesser Known Facts About Achinta Sheuli

• Achinta Sheuli is an Indian weightlifter who is known for bagging a gold medal for India in the Commonwealth Games 2022 in the 73 kg category. He made an international record by lifting 313 kg in the event.

• In an interview, his mother said that when he was a child he used to show laziness while studying but always scored well in exams.

  

• While chasing his kite at the age of 10, Achinta reached a gym in his locality, where he saw his brother and other weightlifters lifting heavy weights. He got fascinated by looking at them and developed an interest in weightlifting.

• His brother wanted to become a weightlifter so he joined the makeshift gym run by Astam Das, near their house, and later, Achinta also followed the footsteps of his brother and joined the gym. The gym was set up in a house which lacked proper facilities.

  

• In 2013, after their father’s demise, his brother gave up college and weightlifting but made sure that Achinta played the sport. His brother started working as an embroiderer along with his mother to earn a living. Achinta also worked with them and continued practising weightlifting at the gym. In an interview, he talked about the time after his father’s death and said,
  

  My father was a rickshaw puller. One day he suffered a stroke and was gone. My mother had to do some tailoring work to make ends meet. My elder brother and I also joined, as all three of us needed to work to manage three meals a day. Obviously, I could not get the protein-rich diet required to be a weightlifter, but I used to train anyway.”

• In an interview, his brother said that they did not have money to repair Achinta’s first phone that he used even after the screen and touchpad of the phone were damaged. He also said that they didn’t have money to perform his father’s last rites. He further talked about his struggles and said,
  

  Achinta and I worked in the fields; we harvested crops and carried the loads on our heads. We have carried paddy for Re 1 [per] bag. We didn’t always do it for money either. We did manual labour in a field for a week, at one point, because we were given an egg a day and a kilo of chicken at the end of it.”

• In an interview, Achinta said that he did not do things like other children of his age did. He talked about his routine and said,
  

  My routine was very simple. Subah utho, thoda kaam karo, training jao (wake up in the morning, do some embroidery, then go and train) till 10am. Then go to school, come back. Train again, come home, do some more embroidery work, then go to sleep.”

  

• In 2013, Achinta participated in the Junior Nationals in which he came fourth. After his performance in the event, he got a call to join the Army Sports Institute, Pune, which he joined in 2015 when he was in class six.

• Achinta is a part of the Khelo India camp and earns a stipend of Rs. 10,000 per month. In an interview, he said that he used to manage his monthly expenses with Rs. 500 that his brother sent him as pocket money before he started earning a salary of Rs. 10,000.

• His coach, Astam Das is a former national-level weightlifter, who retired early due to a back injury. According to him, Achinta was very thin and did not have the the physique of a weightlifter at the beginning. In an interview, he talked about Achinta and said,
  

  When I first saw Achinta, he was very thin and did not have the appearance of a weightlifter at all. (But) one of the things that made him stand out is his hunger for the game. He does not give up easily.”

• In 2019, he was included in the athlete scholarship program started by Reliance Foundation Youth Sports (RFYS), which provided him with physiotherapists and sports science specialists at all times.

• In an interview, after winning a gold medal at the CWG 2022, he dedicated the medal to his coach and brother and said,
  

  I am extremely happy and honored, I have had my fair share of struggles in life and to be standing here today and making the country proud is something that I have always dreamt of. This medal is just not mine, I’d like to dedicate this honor to my brother, my family, and my coach. I now look forward to the Olympic games and I hope that I can replicate my performance.”

• In 2022, after he won a gold medal at the CWG, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Droupadi Murmu congratulated him through a Twitter post.