The Commonwealth Games (CWG) have showcased some of the most inspiring stories of resilience, such as Jhandu Kumar’s rise from selling vegetables and driving an e-rickshaw to winning India's historic first medal (bronze in para powerlifting). Many other Indian athletes have similarly conquered incredible odds to achieve greatness on the CWG stage.

 

5 Indian athletes with most inspiring stories

Here are the stories of five Indian athletes that will inspire you. 

  1. Mirabai Chanu (Weightlifting)

Mirabai Chanu has recently secured India’s first Gold medal at the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games by dominating the women's 48kg category. Battling severe recurring injuries from her grueling Paris Olympic cycle, the veteran lifter faced an agonizing choice to meet the strict newly enforced 48kg limit.

To drop the weight in time for the official weigh-in, Chanu subjected her body to dangerous dehydration, going entirely without food and water for days. She endured agonizing cramps and severe exhaustion, her unparalleled willpower was the only thing that pushed her onto the platform. She made a comeback with shattering tournament records in the snatch, clean, and jerk, completing a historic golden hat-trick.

  1. Murali Sreeshankar (Long Jump)

Murali Sreeshankar overcame profound psychological heartbreak and physical trauma to reach the Glasgow track. Just weeks before the Paris Olympics, a catastrophic patellar tendon blowout completely tore his knee apart, instantly shattering his lifelong Olympic dream. The subsequent major surgery left him bedridden, forcing him into a painfully slow rehabilitation program that took a toll on his mental well-being.

While medical experts doubted his body’s ability to make a swift return to elite athletic standards, Sreeshankar spent months rebuilding his jumping mechanics from scratch. His staggering 8.38m leap this season stands as a magnificent triumph of human persistence over a career-ending injury.

  1. Jhandu Kumar (Para Powerlifting)

Jhandu Kumar’s historic Bronze medal capped an incredible escape from extreme poverty. After contracting polio at age five in Nalanda, Bihar, Kumar spent his childhood dragging himself around to sell vegetables alongside his struggling parents.

Lacking a basic wheelchair, he later attempted to start an e-rickshaw business to survive, but the pandemic completely wiped out his livelihood. Constantly starved of the specialized elite nutrition required to lift heavy weights, he trained with makeshift equipment. His successful 190kg lift under intense pressure officially opened India's 2026 medal tally, proving his spirit was unyielding.

  1. Chanambam Rishikanta Singh (Weightlifting)

Rishikanta Singh rose from absolutely nothing while carrying the weight of a nation. Coming from a humble background in Manipur, he had to secure structural stability by joining the Indian Army to continue lifting.

With the 2026 Commonwealth Games drastically cutting India's core sports, intense pressure fell on the tiny 12-member weightlifting squad to get the medals for the country. Rishikanta stepped onto the platform under immense scrutiny. He channelled his years of quiet, unheralded struggle to smash the official Commonwealth Games snatch record at 121kg, securing a monumental Silver medal for his country.

  1. Sarvesh Kushare (High Jump)

Sarvesh Kushare literalized the struggle of jumping out of rural poverty. Growing up in a tiny village in Nashik, Maharashtra, Kushare lacked access to professional sports infrastructure or high jump padding. He spent his formative training years jumping over bamboo sticks and landing on makeshift pits filled with rough corn husks and empty sacks.

For years, he lived in the financial shadows of better-funded track stars. Showing endless patience, Kushare finally shattered an eight-year-old national record by clearing 2.31m, jumping from a village field straight into the world's elite top-four rankings.