Harjinder Kaur upgrades CWG medal to silver as India weightlifters shine in Glasgow
Harjinder Kaur delivered a career-best performance to win the silver medal in the women's 69kg weightlifting event at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow on Tuesday. The Indian lifted a personal-best total of 227kg to upgrade the bronze she won in the 71kg category at the Birmingham 2022 Games.
Harjinder Kaur pulled off the performance of a lifetime on Tuesday, capturing a silver medal in the women’s 69kg weightlifting event at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games. The 29-year-old upgraded the bronze she earned in the 71kg division at Birmingham four years ago, keeping India’s powerhouse weightlifting squad rolling. Indian lifters have now bagged seven medals in Glasgow, boasting a haul of one gold, five silver, and one bronze.
Commonwealth Games 2026, July 28: LIVE UPDATES
Harjinder shattered her personal records across the board, hauling a total of 227kg to lock up silver. She set lifetime bests in both categories, snatching 101kg and executing a 126kg clean and jerk to finish second behind Canada’s standout lifter Charlotte Simoneau.
It was a ice-cool performance from the Indian lifter, who kept herself firmly in the medal picture from the opening lift and delivered her biggest attempt when the pressure was highest.
Harjinder built a rock-solid platform early by hitting a personal-best 101kg in the snatch, finishing the first discipline in second place. She actually shattered the Commonwealth Games record twice during the snatch segment, first nailing 99kg before topping it with a confident 101kg on her final attempt.
Moving into the clean and jerk, her signature discipline, the Indian stayed flawless. She breezed through 120kg and 123kg before nailing a fantastic 126kg on her third attempt. That lift set a new personal record, bumped her overall total to 227kg, and broke the Commonwealth Games clean and jerk mark twice (first at 123kg, then at 126kg), putting silver completely out of reach for the rest of the field.
While Harjinder was stellar, Simoneau was simply in a league of her own. The reigning junior world champion delivered on her heavy favourite status, cruising to gold with Games records across the board: a 108kg snatch and a 132kg clean and jerk for a massive 240kg total. She even cleared a victory-lap lift of 127kg after already locking up gold, eventually finishing 13kg clear of Harjinder.
The event quickly turned into a record-smashing duel, with both athletes repeatedly pushing the bar higher. Harjinder’s short-lived Games records in the snatch and clean and jerk were both overtaken when Simoneau launched her phenomenal attempts.
WHO IS HARJINDER KAUR?
Hailing from Mehas village near Nabha in Punjab, Harjinder did not start her sporting career anywhere near a weightlifting bar. She originally played kabaddi and tug-of-war before coach Parminder Sharma spotted her raw power and convinced her to try weightlifting at Punjab University.
Her path to the top was anything but easy. Harjinder has often opened up about her family’s severe financial struggles during her early years, where her father stretched limited resources to support her dreams. Those sacrifices have paid off with a trail of hardware on the global stage.
She made her big breakthrough at the 2022 Birmingham Games, mounting a fierce comeback in the clean and jerk to snag bronze in the 71kg class with a 212kg total. Since dropping down to the 69kg category, she has been a rock for India, grabbing bronze at the 2025 Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships, placing 14th at the World Championships, and taking snatch bronze at the 2026 Asian Weightlifting Championships.
Her silver in Glasgow is just the latest proof of her growth. By setting lifetime bests in both disciplines and bumping her overall personal total up by five kilograms, Harjinder turned her Birmingham bronze into Glasgow silver and added another chapter to India’s dominant weightlifting story.
Harjinder Kaur pulled off the performance of a lifetime on Tuesday, capturing a silver medal in the women’s 69kg weightlifting event at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games. The 29-year-old upgraded the bronze she earned in the 71kg division at Birmingham four years ago, keeping India’s powerhouse weightlifting squad rolling. Indian lifters have now bagged seven medals in Glasgow, boasting a haul of one gold, five silver, and one bronze.
Commonwealth Games 2026, July 28: LIVE UPDATES
Harjinder shattered her personal records across the board, hauling a total of 227kg to lock up silver. She set lifetime bests in both categories, snatching 101kg and executing a 126kg clean and jerk to finish second behind Canada’s standout lifter Charlotte Simoneau.
It was a ice-cool performance from the Indian lifter, who kept herself firmly in the medal picture from the opening lift and delivered her biggest attempt when the pressure was highest.
Harjinder built a rock-solid platform early by hitting a personal-best 101kg in the snatch, finishing the first discipline in second place. She actually shattered the Commonwealth Games record twice during the snatch segment, first nailing 99kg before topping it with a confident 101kg on her final attempt.
Moving into the clean and jerk, her signature discipline, the Indian stayed flawless. She breezed through 120kg and 123kg before nailing a fantastic 126kg on her third attempt. That lift set a new personal record, bumped her overall total to 227kg, and broke the Commonwealth Games clean and jerk mark twice (first at 123kg, then at 126kg), putting silver completely out of reach for the rest of the field.
While Harjinder was stellar, Simoneau was simply in a league of her own. The reigning junior world champion delivered on her heavy favourite status, cruising to gold with Games records across the board: a 108kg snatch and a 132kg clean and jerk for a massive 240kg total. She even cleared a victory-lap lift of 127kg after already locking up gold, eventually finishing 13kg clear of Harjinder.
The event quickly turned into a record-smashing duel, with both athletes repeatedly pushing the bar higher. Harjinder’s short-lived Games records in the snatch and clean and jerk were both overtaken when Simoneau launched her phenomenal attempts.
WHO IS HARJINDER KAUR?
Hailing from Mehas village near Nabha in Punjab, Harjinder did not start her sporting career anywhere near a weightlifting bar. She originally played kabaddi and tug-of-war before coach Parminder Sharma spotted her raw power and convinced her to try weightlifting at Punjab University.
Her path to the top was anything but easy. Harjinder has often opened up about her family’s severe financial struggles during her early years, where her father stretched limited resources to support her dreams. Those sacrifices have paid off with a trail of hardware on the global stage.
She made her big breakthrough at the 2022 Birmingham Games, mounting a fierce comeback in the clean and jerk to snag bronze in the 71kg class with a 212kg total. Since dropping down to the 69kg category, she has been a rock for India, grabbing bronze at the 2025 Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships, placing 14th at the World Championships, and taking snatch bronze at the 2026 Asian Weightlifting Championships.
Her silver in Glasgow is just the latest proof of her growth. By setting lifetime bests in both disciplines and bumping her overall personal total up by five kilograms, Harjinder turned her Birmingham bronze into Glasgow silver and added another chapter to India’s dominant weightlifting story.
Harjinder Kaur pulled off the performance of a lifetime on Tuesday, capturing a silver medal in the women’s 69kg weightlifting event at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games. The 29-year-old upgraded the bronze she earned in the 71kg division at Birmingham four years ago, keeping India’s powerhouse weightlifting squad rolling. Indian lifters have now bagged seven medals in Glasgow, boasting a haul of one gold, five silver, and one bronze.
Commonwealth Games 2026, July 28: LIVE UPDATES
Harjinder shattered her personal records across the board, hauling a total of 227kg to lock up silver. She set lifetime bests in both categories, snatching 101kg and executing a 126kg clean and jerk to finish second behind Canada’s standout lifter Charlotte Simoneau.
It was a ice-cool performance from the Indian lifter, who kept herself firmly in the medal picture from the opening lift and delivered her biggest attempt when the pressure was highest.
Harjinder built a rock-solid platform early by hitting a personal-best 101kg in the snatch, finishing the first discipline in second place. She actually shattered the Commonwealth Games record twice during the snatch segment, first nailing 99kg before topping it with a confident 101kg on her final attempt.
Moving into the clean and jerk, her signature discipline, the Indian stayed flawless. She breezed through 120kg and 123kg before nailing a fantastic 126kg on her third attempt. That lift set a new personal record, bumped her overall total to 227kg, and broke the Commonwealth Games clean and jerk mark twice (first at 123kg, then at 126kg), putting silver completely out of reach for the rest of the field.
While Harjinder was stellar, Simoneau was simply in a league of her own. The reigning junior world champion delivered on her heavy favourite status, cruising to gold with Games records across the board: a 108kg snatch and a 132kg clean and jerk for a massive 240kg total. She even cleared a victory-lap lift of 127kg after already locking up gold, eventually finishing 13kg clear of Harjinder.
The event quickly turned into a record-smashing duel, with both athletes repeatedly pushing the bar higher. Harjinder’s short-lived Games records in the snatch and clean and jerk were both overtaken when Simoneau launched her phenomenal attempts.
WHO IS HARJINDER KAUR?
Hailing from Mehas village near Nabha in Punjab, Harjinder did not start her sporting career anywhere near a weightlifting bar. She originally played kabaddi and tug-of-war before coach Parminder Sharma spotted her raw power and convinced her to try weightlifting at Punjab University.
Her path to the top was anything but easy. Harjinder has often opened up about her family’s severe financial struggles during her early years, where her father stretched limited resources to support her dreams. Those sacrifices have paid off with a trail of hardware on the global stage.
She made her big breakthrough at the 2022 Birmingham Games, mounting a fierce comeback in the clean and jerk to snag bronze in the 71kg class with a 212kg total. Since dropping down to the 69kg category, she has been a rock for India, grabbing bronze at the 2025 Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships, placing 14th at the World Championships, and taking snatch bronze at the 2026 Asian Weightlifting Championships.
Her silver in Glasgow is just the latest proof of her growth. By setting lifetime bests in both disciplines and bumping her overall personal total up by five kilograms, Harjinder turned her Birmingham bronze into Glasgow silver and added another chapter to India’s dominant weightlifting story.
