CWG 2022: Failing to keep mother's promise is causing more heartbreak for Punam Yadav

Punam Yadav understood it the hard way when she had to leave her infant daughter Priyanshi, months after her birth, when she decided to return to the weightlifting arena.

Mothers make sacrifices and if you are a working mother, challenges are manifold.

India's Punam Yadav reacts after an unsuccessful attempt in the women's 76kg category weightlifting event (PTI)

Punam Yadav understood it the hard way when she had to leave her infant daughter Priyanshi, months after her birth, when she decided to return to the weightlifting arena.

In the last two years, she would be often feel mentally exhausted by the separation anxiety but would carry on gamely with a promise to her own self that -- little Priyanshi won't be let down by her mother.

When she is back with her, toddler would get to fiddle with a gold medal wrapped around her mother's neck.

But fate had other ideas as Punam failed to complete a single successful lift in clean and jerk section, thereby finishing last.

It's not her failure that's bothering her but not being able to do it for her daughter that breaks her heart.

"Isse bada dard kya ho sakta hai ek maa ke liye (There could not have been a bigger sacrifice than this for a mother)," Punam, who came back to active competition winning a gold at the Patiala Nationals three months after her daughter was born, said.

She narrated an incident how she would have to keep her worries aside when her daughter would fall sick.

"Initially, my daughter used to regularly suffer from illness like cold and fever for days and days and I would remain disturbed, solely focused on winning a medal for the country."

Then in March this year on the sidelines of the Bhubaneswar Nationals, she finally got to see her daughter again, and how?

The train from Delhi to Bhubaneswar had a stop at her hometown Mirzapur where her husband handed over the kid and she took her to Bhubaneswar, where she created a national record in snatch (98 kg) with an overall lift of 214 kg in her new weight category of 76 kg.

"She was not even two years old but she never disturbed me during the competition and it went off smoothly. It seems she's deeply understanding, I'm so proud of her," she said.

So what's next?

"At the moment, I'm blank. I don't know what's in store for me. My husband is very supportive. We will see how it goes from here on," she said.

"I've to accept reality and move on. As I said everything is predestined, I just have to keep giving my best," she concluded.