SHEULI Achinta

General
EARLY DAYS
His father, who was the sole breadwinner in his family, died of a stroke in 2013, around the same time Achinta took up weightlifting. "My father was a rickshaw puller. One day he suffered a stroke and was gone. My mother had to do some tailoring work to make ends meet. My elder brother and I also joined, as all three of us needed to work to manage three meals a day. Obviously, I could not get the protein-rich diet required to be a weightlifter, but I used to train anyway." His older brother Alok, who had to give up his own career in weightlifting, encouraged him to continue the sport. "I decided to focus on my game and got a lot of support from my brother. He wanted me to grow in life. He wanted me to achieve something in sport and get a government job. He knew if I was able to do this, the family would get a lot of support. I owe my career to him." (olympics.com, 16 Aug 2022; timesofindia.indiatimes.com, 05 Aug 2022; newindianexpress.com, 27 Feb 2019)