Mina Santa (A) made it a memorable day for Odisha by winning the gold medal for India in the junior women 58kg category on the second day of the Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships at Naranpura Sports Complex in Ahmedabad today. She lifted 84kg in snatch and 101kg in clean & jerk for a total of 185kg.

This was the second medal of the day and third overall by Odisha lifters in the ongoing championships with Preetismita Bhoi and Sneha Soren bagging gold in youth women 44kg and silver in senior women 53kg categories respectively earlier.

For 18-year-old Mina, who hails from Nabarangpur district and trains at Bhubaneswar-based Odisha Weightlifting HPC, this was the fourth gold and fifth international medal of her flourishing career that started in 2022. She has won all five of her international medals, which also includes one silver, at the Commonwealth championships since 2023.

Office-bearers of Odisha Weightlifting Association (OWA), headed by president Chitta Ranjan Swain, congratulated Mina for making the state and the country proud with her golden achievement.
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PHOTO: Odisha lifter Mina Santa poses with her Commonwealth Championships gold medal in Ahmedabad on 26 August 2025.