Dreams of global powerlifting glory crushed in tragedy

NEW DELHI: Saksham Yadav, 23, had worked tirelessly to chase one dream since his childhood — to become a successful powerlifter. The Nangloi resident was in Class 10 when he stepped into a gym for the first time in his life. He was inspired by his father, who exercised regularly.

Yadav went on to study engineering, but his heart was never really in it, his family said. Saksham delved into full-time powerlifting in 2015 and had been training for international glory until his last day, his family said.

The young powerlifter went on to become a two-time world champion in powerlifting — in 2016 in Slovakia and in 2017 in Russia. He is also a former Delhi state champion, north India champion and national champion. These titles came in 2015 and 2016.

When news spread about his accident, family, friends and coaches arrived at AIIMS Trauma Centre, where Yadav was battling with life till late Sunday evening. He succumbed to his injuries at night.

Yadav’s family told Hindu- stan Times that he had been training for future competitions. “He got engaged a year ago but had decided postpone the wedding. He wanted to only focus on the Olympics at the moment,” said Sandeep Yadav, a relative.

Saksham was born-andbrought-up in a joint family in Nangloi. He has two elder sisters. Since last two years, he was staying at his elder sister’s house in Timarpur, where she is posted as a scientist at Defence Research and Development Organisation. The other sister is a teacher in Delhi University, the family said.

Gurpreet Singh, the general secretary of Powerlifting Federation of India, one of the many powerlifting agencies in India, said, “He had been associated with us for the past two years and was a very hard-working athlete. I had dinner with him last night and after that he dropped me and Guruji (federation president Sunil Lohchab) to our houses. He then went out with his friends. He said he was going to celebrate someone’s birthday. We both advised him against going too far due to fog. But he said he had already planned the night and would be fine.”