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Grishma Thorat recently won the silver medal in weightlifting in the 76kg category at the Khelo India Youth Games 2024. However, she has had to endure personal trauma en route to her success.
Grishma lost her father in the dreaded COVID times only four days after she finished sixth in the 2022 junior nationals in Bhubaneswar. Grishma, who studies in 10th standard in a local school, has spent the last two years with the memories of her late father, but has also focused on her game.
“A couple of days after I returned from Bhubaneswar, my father had to be admitted to the hospital due to Covid-related complications. We weren’t ready for the worst situation and thought he would recover. However, fate had something else written for us,” Grishma said.
“It (last two years) has been the toughest phase of my career so far. Every time, I go for training or start doing anything the memories of my father keep flashing in front of me. I was mentally shattered, deep inside there’s a void that’s hard to be filled. I couldn’t focus on anything,” she added.
"My father worked in a chocolate factory" - Grishma Thorat
Grishma talked about the challenges in her family and said that her mother took a job as a caretaker in an Anganwadi center in Thane.
“My father worked in a chocolate factory, and he was the sole bread-earner in the family. It has been tough (financially) but my mother has somehow managed to manage the family with her limited income,” Grishma said.
Before performing well in the Khelo India Youth Games, Grishma finished sixth and fourth respectively in Panchkula and Indore. When she was struggling to get her life together, she rose to the occasion and won the bronze medal in the junior nationals in Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh.
After her success in the Khelo India Games and junior nationals, Grishma is in good form and is looking to perform well in the Under-17 School Games in Patna later this year in March.
