Krishna Poonia

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Krishna Poonia
XIX Commonwealth Games-2010 Delhi Krishna Poonia of India won the Gold medal in Women's Discus event, at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, in New Delhi on October 11, 2010.jpg
Poonia at the 2010 Commonwealth Games
Personal information
Born (1977-05-05) 5 May 1977 (age 48)
Agroha, Haryana, India
Height1.8 m (5 ft 11 in) [1]
Sport
Sport Athletics
Event
 Discus throw
Achievements and titles
Personal best64.76 m (2012)
Medal record
Women's athletics Athletics pictogram.svg
Representing Flag of India.svg  India
Commonwealth Games
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2010 Delhi Discus throw
Asian Games
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2006 Doha Discus throw
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2010 Guangzhou Discus throw
Asian Championships
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2005 Incheon Discus throw
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2007 Amman Discus throw
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2009 Guangzhou Discus throw

Krishna Poonia (born 5 May 1977) is an Indian politician and former discus thrower. A former Commonwealth Games Champion, she represented India in the women's discus throw event at the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games. In recognition of her contributions to Indian athletics, she received the Arjuna Award in 2010 and the Padma Shri in 2011. Poonia later entered politics and served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly from the Sadulpur constituency, representing the Indian National Congress in 2018. [2]

Contents

Early and personal life

Krishna was born on 5 May 1977 in Jat family of Agroha in Haryana. [3] She was raised by her father and paternal grandmother after her mother died when she was nine years old. [4] Her 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. [5] Krishna obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology from Fateh Chand College for Women, Hisar.

In 2000, she married Virender Singh Poonia, a former athlete who coached her after their marriage, and had a son in 2001. [4] The couple worked for Indian Railways but in 2013, Poonia resigned and joined the Indian National Congress. [6]

Career

2010 Commonwealth Games

Poonia became the first Indian woman athlete to win a gold medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi. Poonia led the historic clean sweep of the discus event by clearing 61.51 m. 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. [7] [8]

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 m 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. [9] [10]

Political career

In 2013, she joined the Indian National Congress at an election rally in Churu – her husband's home district – in the presence of Rahul Gandhi and then chief minister Ashok Gehlot after she was approached by the Congress's leadership. [2]

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 18,084 votes. [11]

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. [12] She lost to Rathore by a margin of 3,93,171 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. [5]

She was appointed as the president of Rajasthan State Sports Council in 2022. [13]

In 2023 Rajasthan Legislative Assembly election, she lost the election from the Sadulpur Assembly constituency as Congress candidate by a margin of 2,574 votes behind BSP. [14]

Honours

References

  1. ↑ "KRISHNA POONIA". g2014results.thecgf.com. Commonwealth Games Federation. Archived from the original on 17 August 2016. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  2. 1 2 "Electoral Triumph Same As Winning Gold: Congress Candidate Krishna Punia". www.ndtv.com. Archived from the original on 1 January 2025. Retrieved 6 December 2025.
  3. ↑ Koshie, Nihal (12 October 2010). "All Jats Night: Discus trio make history". Indian Express . Archived from the original on 21 March 2016. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
  4. 1 2 Knight, Matthew; Yasukawa, Olivia (4 February 2015). "Krishna Poonia: Discus diva champions Indian girl power". CNN . Retrieved 22 December 2018.
  5. 1 2 Matthew Knight and Olivia Yasukawa (4 February 2015). "Krishna Poonia: Star of India, champion of new society". CNN. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
  6. ↑ "Ace discus thrower Krishna Poonia resigns from Railways, expected to join Congress". NDTV.com. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
  7. ↑ Saibal Bose (12 October 2012). "India wins first Games track & field gold since Milkha Singh in 1958". The Economic Times . Retrieved 19 July 2021.
  8. ↑ "Krishna Poonia creates history, wins gold in athletics". The Indian Express. 11 October 2010. Archived from the original on 21 June 2020. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
  9. ↑ "Krishna Poonia Qualifies for Discus Final". The Hindu. 4 August 2012.
  10. ↑ "Krishna Poonia Finishes 7th". The Hindu. 5 August 2012.
  11. ↑ "Krishna wins poll battle in Rajasthan in second attempt". Tribuneindia News Service. Archived from the original on 14 November 2019. Retrieved 6 December 2025.
  12. ↑ "Election 2019: "Khiladi vs Khiladi": Olympian Krishna Poonia On Rajyavardhan Rathore". NDTV.com. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
  13. ↑ "राज्य क्रीड़ा परिषद के अध्यक्ष का पदभार संभालेंगी कृष्णा पूनिया, कहा-बजट में खेलों के लिए काफी कुछ मिलेगा". Zee Rajasthan (in Hindi). Retrieved 6 December 2025.
  14. ↑ "Hisar Olympian Poonia loses her Rajasthan seat". The Times of India. 4 December 2023. ISSN   0971-8257 . Retrieved 6 December 2025.
  15. ↑ "Padma Awards" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 October 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
  16. ↑ "Arjuna Awardees- Athletics – Athletics Federation of India" . Retrieved 27 July 2019.
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