As father fights blood cancer, Rishikanta bags CWG silver
Weightlifter Rishikanta Singh Chanambam won a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games while his father undergoes treatment for blood cancer. The story highlights his humble beginnings as a daily-wage laborer and his dedication to supporting his family despite financial hardships.
Why it matters
It serves as an inspirational human-interest story highlighting the personal sacrifices made by athletes from underprivileged backgrounds.
As Rishikanta Singh Chanambam stepped onto the platform for the men’s 60kg weightlifting competition at Commonwealth Games in Glasgow on Sunday, his biggest supporters gathered around a mobile phone over 7,000km away in Uttarlai, Barmer, Rajasthan.Although Rishikanta hails from Ngairangbam Makha Maning Leikai in Manipur’s Imphal West district, his parents have been living with his elder brother, Amarjit Singh, in Rajasthan for the past few months. His father is undergoing treatment for blood cancer at AIIMS Jodhpur, where he has already completed three rounds of chemotherapy and is responding well.Even as Rishikanta lifted a combined 264kg to claim the silver medal, thoughts of his father were never far from his mind.“We have had a very difficult life, and I’ve always tried to make him smile because I never got to spend much time with him,” Rishikanta said during an exclusive interaction with TOI.
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