Krishna Poonia is a renowned Indian discus thrower and a national woman champion from India. She won the women`s discus final at the Delhi Commonwealth Games on 11th October 2010 with a throw of 61.51 m. she received a gold medal for her exceptional performance.
Early Life of Krishna Poonia
Krishna Poonia was born in 1982 in Agroha in the Hisar district of Haryana into a Jat family. She originally hails from Gagarwas village in Churu district, Rajasthan. Krishna completed her graduation in sociology from Kanodia Girls College in Jaipur. Right from her childhood she showed interest towards games but did not receive the required support. It was only in 1997, while studying in college, she broke the 25 year old record in discus throw during inter-college games.
Her marriage to Virendar Singh also proved to be fruitful for her career. Virender Singh was a national champion in hammer throw who also coached Krishna. She was married in Gagarwas village in Churu district in the year 2000 and now the couple has a son.
Career of Krishna Poonia
Krishna Punia, a woman national discus thrower, is the winner of gold medal in the 46th Open National athletics championships. In the year 2006, she won the bronze medal at the Asian Games held at Doha. She has represented Indian railways in national tournaments. Her personal best is 61.53 metre in the second try. She finished behind Aimin Sing of China (63.52) and Ma Xuenjun, also of China (62.43). In the 46th Open National athletics championships, Krishna Poonia had won gold medal to intrude ahead of Seema Antil and Harwant Kaur, registering a career-best 60.10 metres distance. She also took part in the 2008 Beijing Olympics but failed to reach the finals.
In the Common Wealth Games of 2010 held in New Delhi Krishna Punia emerged as the first women to win a gold medal, making the nation proud. She led the discuss event clearing 61.5 metres. She is the first Indian woman to win a gold medal in track and field events of Commonwealth games.
Awards of Krishna Poonia
For her admirable achievements in the field of athletics the Government of Rajasthan bestowed on Krishna Punia with cash reward of a huge sum and the Maharaja Pratap award. She also received the Maharana Mewar award from Mewar Foundation .the former royal family of Jaipur awarded her the Bhavani Singh Samman. Krishna was conferred upon the Bhim award from the Government of Haryana. In the year 2010 Punia was presented the most prestigious award the Arjuna Award. She was honoured with the Padma Shri in the year 2011.