Ekambaram Kaunakaran (born 6 June 1954) is a former Indian weightlifter. He was the first Indian to win the gold medal in an international competition in

weightlifting Weightlifting generally refers to activities in which people lift weights, often in the form of dumbbells or barbells. People lift various kinds of weights for a variety of different reasons. These may include various types of competition; promo ...

. This was in the

Commonwealth games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

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in 1978. Karunakaran's career spanned over a decade. He was conferred with the Arjuna Award in the year 1978-79 by the Government of India.

Early life

Karunakaran was born in Egattur,

Thiruvallur Tiruvallur is a Grade I municipality and a fast developing city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of Coovum river about from downtown Chennai ( Madras) and just 5 km from megacity border, in the western p ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

to Ekambaram and Karupaiammal Karunakaran. He studied at Kadambathur Government higher secondary school and then worked with Southern Railway in

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

Career

Initially interested in

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, Karunakaran took to weightlifting to gain strength and power at age 17. He was initially very thin. He was an instant success at the national level, winning the 52 kg class from 1978 to 1982. His international career began almost simultaneously. He took the gold medal with an aggregate of 95 kg snatch, and 110 kg clean and jerk lifts, totaling 205 kg in Edmonton’s

Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium The Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium is a performing arts, culture and community facility, located in Edmonton, Alberta. General information and history The auditorium was built in 1957, on a site adjacent to the University of Alberta to cel ...

in 1978. His lift of 110 kg in the jerk set a new games record. He won the Inter Railway Championship title seven times consecutively beginning in 1978. Two years later he won another gold at the Commonwealth weightlifting championship and broke 6 international records in

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. Thereafter he took part in competitions in

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and the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

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, Australia; where he carried the Indian Tricolor. He won silver and bronze medals at the

Asian Championships An Asian Championship is a top level international sports competition between Asian athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. List of Championships (Summer Olympic Sports) ;Aquatics * Asia ...

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in 1981. This was followed by a Silver Medal in the Pakistan National Games that occurred during the same year. Karunakaran captained the Indian weightlifting squad to the World Railways Meet in Bulgaria in 1984 where he won a bronze medal.

Coach

Karunakaran holds a diploma in coaching from the

National Institute of Sports Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports, commonly known as National Institute of Sports (NIS), is the Academic Wing of the Sports Authority of India (SAI) and Asia's largest Sports Institute located in city of Patiala. History Founded on 7 ...

Patiala Patiala () is a city in southeastern Punjab, northwestern India. It is the fourth largest city in the state and is the administrative capital of Patiala district. Patiala is located around the '' Qila Mubarak'' (the 'Fortunate Castle') construct ...

and has coached the Southern Railways, the

Indian Railways Indian Railways (IR) is a statutory body under the ownership of Ministry of Railways, Government of India that operates India's national railway system. It manages the fourth largest national railway system in the world by size, with a tota ...

and finally the national teams. He accompanied the Indian Weightlifting Team as Manager at the

SAF Games The South Asian Games (SAG or SA Games), formerly known as the South Asian Federation Games (SAFG or SAF Games), is a quadrennial multi-sport event held among the athletes from South Asia. The governing body of these games is South Asia Olympic ...

held at

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital ...

in 1989. An Arjuna Award winner in 1978-79, he was feted by the Sports Journalist Association of Tamil Nadu during 1981-82. He worked as a Coach for Asian Games at the Hiroshima Asian games in Japan during the year 1994. He was honored as the Best Coach in 1995. In 2009, he represented as a coach in the Youth World Weightlifting Championship held at Chiang Mai,

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

; and qualified for Junior World Cup (first time in Indian history). In 2010 he worked as a coach in the Asian Youth Olympic Qualification, the 17th Asian Junior Women, and the 24th Asian Junior Men Weightlifting Championships; qualifying for the Junior World Cup. The team won the silver medal. In 2010 he represented as a coach in the Commonwealth Weightlifting Championship held at Penang,

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

References

External links

Canberra-times 1978Canberra-times 1981Canberra-times 1982Canberra-Times 1990
{{DEFAULTSORT:Karunakaran, Ekambaram Living people Tamil sportspeople Indian male weightlifters 1954 births Weightlifters from Tamil Nadu Commonwealth Games gold medallists for India Weightlifters at the 1978 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games medallists in weightlifting Recipients of the Arjuna Award 20th-century Indian people 21st-century Indian people Medallists at the 1978 Commonwealth Games

Early life

Career

Coach

See also

References

External links