Son of tea vendor, the inspirational story of CWG Silver medallist Sanket Sargar

The 21-year-old injured himself during the event, but fought back to win a medal.

"Winners never quit and quitters never win." This phrase as quoted by Vince Lombardi perfectly fits the character of Sanket Mahadev Sargar, the rookie 21-year-old athlete from Sangli, Maharashtra who won India's first medal at the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham.

With this, India opened the medal tally on the second day of the ongoing Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. The 21-year-old won a silver medal in weightlifting in the 55kg category. He lifted a total weight of 248kgs; 113 in the snatch and 135 in the clean and jerk. Sanket lost the gold medal in a tight contest to Malaysia's Mohamad Aniq Bin, who won gold with a total lift of 249kgs; 107 in snatch and 142 in clean and jerk.

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Inspiring Backstory

The story of Sanket, just a step away from the gold medal, is very inspiring. Sargar, a three-time national champion, once ran a paan and tea shop with his father in Maharashtra's Sangli district. But, it is said that "the boat does not cross fearing the waves, those who try never give up."

However, this celebration of victory could have been more of a bang. Sanket hurt himself during the second attempt in clean and jerk. Still, he kept his spirits high and took the third attempt, but his injury became more severe. After failing in two attempts in the clean and jerk, Sanket missed out on the gold medal by just one kg. He won the silver medal by lifting 248 kg (113 and 135kgs).

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This success is not new for Sanket, who helps his father at the shop. He also won a silver medal at the Commonwealth Championships last year. Apart from this, in February this year, he broke the Commonwealth and national record by lifting 256kgs (113kgs in snatch and 143kgs in clean and jerk) at the Singapore Weightlifting International.

Had Thought of Quitting the Sport

Back in the year 2020, when the whole country was ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic, small and micro small industries including vendors were hit severely. One amongst them was Sanket's father's tea stall. Sanket had almost thought of quitting the sport during the lockdown. His family's income was hit and a back injury had put a question mark on his fitness.

“It was a time when I thought about quitting the sport. There was almost no business at my father’s tea stall and the practice at home meant that I suffered a back injury," Sanket was quoted as saying by the Indian Express. "But, my father kept motivating me by showing old newspaper clips of my medal-winning performances."

At the beginning of the pandemic, his training was also disrupted, as it was for so many other athletes around the country. His coach Mayur Sinhasane remembering that time says, “The police post is just opposite their home and tea stall. So, there was always someone keeping an eye on who was stepping out during the lockdown.

"It meant that Sanket could only do light training at home. I sent a barbell and squat set to him. He trained on the first floor. So, he had to train with caution and it resulted in a back injury to him."

It took Sanket more than two months to recover from the injury. It was only his grit and resilience that brought him back to the mat and the Sangli-born lifter once again became a senior national champion with a total lift of 247kgs last year at the competition held in Patiala.

Managing Training, Tea-Stall & Academics

Sanket Sargar enrolled at the Digvijay Weightlifting Centre, run by Sinshasne in 2012. The centre was located nearby to the tea stall. However, Sanket managed his studies and helped his father at the tea stall. It took him around six months to get accustomed to the hectic training schedule and manage academics at the same time.

Sanket's sister is also a sportsperson. Kajol Sargar, sister of Sanket Sargar, became the first medalist of the 4th Khelo India Youth Games. Sargar’s father, Mahadev, displayed the medal at the family-owned tea stall. Mahadev said, “When Kajol returned with the medal, we displayed the medal first at the tea stall. That’s what has provided all things for our family till date and Sanket’s medal too will be displayed on the tea stall first.”

Sanket said that his father had told him that he wants him to either study or pursue the sport. While he started weight-lifting training, he also had to help his father at the tea stall. The day would start at 6 am at the shop, where he would prepare the items for the day before going for training. After school, he would manage the paan joint also.

Sanket’s father and grandfather helped him to look beyond the family-run tea small and fly high. Sanket used to make mangode and vada pav along with his father at the shop. “I used to tell him that my father used to sell bananas and I sell tea and pakoda. So dream big,”  Sanet's father added.

Gururaja Poojary’s silver medal in the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games motivated the weight lifter to dream about winning a Commonwealth Games medal. “I remember that day, I was at the tea stall and saw Gururaj bhai winning the medal in the Commonwealth Games.  I believed I could achieve the same feat too one day,” Sanket said.

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