Krishna Poonia is a woman who has done it all. She is an international gold-medalist discus thrower, track-and-field athlete, three times Olympics participant, Padma Shri and Arjuna Award recipient, politician from the Congress party and the current MLA from Sadulpur constituency in Rajasthan.
She is an inspiration to people everywhere and especially to young girls. It is greatly inspiring to see a woman on top when so many believe that such a thing is not possible.
Lesser known facts about Krishna Poonia:
1. Krishna Poonia is the first Indian woman Athlete to win a gold medal in the Commonwealth Games. She represented India in the Olympics three times. She is the only athlete in India after Milkha Singh to win a gold medal in an international track and field event.
2. Due to lack of facilities in her school and village, Krishna 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.
3. Virender Singh Poonia - former National Level Hammer thrower who is Krishna's husband was attending the same camp as Krishna but didn't know her. Later that year, their families arranged their marriage and Krishna and Virender got married in the year 2000.
4. In 2001, Krishna gave birth to their son Lakshayraj and a year after that she pursued her career in sports. Her husband motivated her, encouraged her and even coached her. Krishna often says these words about her husband, "He is the pillar of all my success."
5. 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.
6. On 11 October 2010, she was honoured with the Arjuna Award.
7. In 2011, she received the Padma Shri Award for her extraordinary contribution in sports.
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. 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.
