Krishna Poonia

Some Lesser Known Facts About Krishna Poonia

• Krishna Poonia is an International Gold Medalist and the First Indian Woman Athlete to win a Gold Medal in the Commonwealth Games. She represented India in the Olympics 3 times. She is the only athlete in India after Milkha Singh to win a gold medal in an international track and field event.

• Due to lack of facilities in her school and village, she got introduced to sports after she joined college. She picked up her first discus in college and started winning collegiate and state level competitions as a discus thrower. This got her selected for a National camp in Patiala.

• Interestingly Virendar Poonia, former National Level Hammer thrower, was attending the same camp as Krishna but didn’t know her. Later that year their families arranged their marriage and they got married in the year 2000.

  

• In 2001, Krishna gave birth to her son, Lakshayraj, and a year after that, she pursued her career in sports. Her husband motivated her, encouraged her, and coached her. Krishna often says about her husband-
  

  He is the pillar of all my success.”

  

• Her first major international victory was when she won the Bronze Medal in the Doha Asian Games and later the Gold Medal in the 46th National Open Athletics Championship.

  

• She won the Gold Medal in the 2010 Commonwealth Games Delhi and became the first Indian woman and the only athlete after Milkha Singh to win a Gold Medal in a track and field event. She considers this the highest point in her sporting career.

  

• On 11 October 2010, she was honored with the Arjuna Award, just a few days after she won the Gold Medal in the Commonwealth Games, New Delhi.

  

• In 2011, she received the Padma Shri Award for her extraordinary contributions in sports.

  

• In 2013, she joined the Indian National Congress (INC) in the presence of Rahul Gandhi. She stated the experience as overwhelming and promised the people of Rajasthan that she’ll work day and night for their betterment and upliftment.

  

• In her first election from the Sadulpur Assembly Constituency in 2013, she lost the seat to Manoj Nyangali of the BSP, but this didn’t break her spirits as she waited and worked in her constituency for the next 5 years and in the 2018 Assembly elections, she won from the same seat.

• For the 2019 general elections, Congress announced that Krishna will be contesting from the Jaipur Rural Constituency of Rajasthan, against Cabinet Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore; who is the sitting MP from Jaipur Rural.