Preetismita receives Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar
Sportslogon team December 26th 2024

Bhubaneswar : Odisha Weightlifter Preetismita Bhoi conferred with the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar at Delhi. President Droupadi Murmu on Thursday presented the Puraskar to 17 children, recognising their exceptional courage and outstanding achievements in various fields, including art, culture and sports.

Altogether seven boys and 10 girls selected from 14 states and Union territories were presented with a medal, certificate and a citation booklet as part of their recognition.

Preetismita Bhoi, a 15-year-old weightlifter from Dhenkanal, set a world record at the IWF World Youth Weightlifting Championships 2024 in Lima, Peru

Competing in the 40kg weight class, Preetismita Bhoi lifted 57 kg in snatch and 76 kg in clean & jerk for a total weight of 133 kg and grabbed the gold medal. In clean & jerk, she bettered the world record by one kg. She also won a silver medal in the clean & jerk event of the Asian Youth and Junior Weightlifting Championship held at Doha, Qatar.

The Dhenkanal, Kendriya Vidyalaya 10th class student Preetismita said “it’s a biggest award ceremony of my life, I am the luckiest kid of my State, at the age of 15 got the opportunity to meet our country’s President and Prime Minister at a time”.

Preetismita daughter of late Mahendra Bhoi and mother Jamuna Bhoi expressed “ I never saw my father in my life. A few months before my birth, I lost my father. I believe today he might be equally happy like my mother. Presently I am training at Modinagar, Uttar Pradesh, my dream is to represent my country in Commonwealth and Asian Games in future”. .