Satish Sivalingam: carrying his nation's weight

Satish Sivalingam was interestingly attracted to weightlifting the very first time his father took him to a gym. At the tender age of 16, Satish was convinced he wanted to take up weightlifting professionally.

The 24-year-old comes hails from a family that has quite a name to reckon with in the sport. Satish's father Sivalingam and uncle competed at the national level, with the former being a gold medallist.

Satish's father was an ex-serviceman who now serves as a security guard at Vellore Institute of Technology. Satish, who gained attention in the 2014 Commonwealth Games (CWG) at Glassgow, is a clerk with Southern Railways, Chennai. He claimed his first-ever CWG gold in 2014 in the 77Kg weightlifting discipline. 

Satish also holds the current national record by lifting 336Kg. He has said that his family is the primary reason behind his success. This support, he says, helped him recover from a crucial injury that he sustained during the World Championship 2015 and get back in the game.

The Tamil Nadu weightlifter suffered a slipped disc, the most feared injury in weightlifting, that almost made him decide to give up the sport. However, with the help of excellent coaches and physiotherapists, he recovered and now is considered one of the best bets of India in Rio 2016.

Some towners continue to make India proud in the field of athletes. With Rio Olympics 2016 not very far, Satish is geared up to embark his name once again in the history books.

• Satish Sivalingam
• Rio Olympics 2016
• Rio 2016
• India in Olympics