Former Olympic weightlifting ace Karnam Malleswari, who became the first Indian woman to win an Olympic medal &mdash; bronze at the 2000 Sydney Olympics in the 69kg, does not want the current Indian weightlifting contingent comprising &mdash; Katula Ravi Kumar (69 kg men) and Ngangbam Soniya Chanu (48kg women) to succumb to medal hopes at the London Games. <img alt="" src="/imagedata/2012/jul/malleswari.jpg" style="width: 400px; height: 392px; " /> Karnam Malleswari during the Sydney Olympics in 2000. Pic/AFP &ldquo;Every athlete aims to win a medal when he/she enters any competition and the Olympics is no different. I just want the team to go and give it their best shot. If the athlete has performed to the best of his ability and with a bit of luck on his side, results will follow. If they bother too much about winning a medal, the concentration will waiver,&rdquo; Malleswari, who finished behind gold medalist Lin Weining of China and silver winner Erzs&eacute;bet M&aacute;rkus-Peresztegi of Hungary at the Sydney Games, toldu00a0Sunday MiD DAY. The Arjuna awardee said she regrets missing that gold in Sydney till date. &ldquo;I was confident that I could have easily won gold in Sydney, but that day was not mine. In pursuit of creating a new Olympic record, I missed the gold medal and had to settle for a bronze,&rdquo; said the former two-time (1993 and 1994) world champion. Malleswari (37) though was proud to have won India&rsquo;s only medal in Sydney. &ldquo;I was disheartened to have missed out on the gold medal, but later my bronze medal turned out to be no less than gold medal as it was India&rsquo;s only medal at that Games. I felt proud seeing the tri-colour hoisted at the venue following my effort,&rdquo; added the current General Manager with the Food Corporation of India (FCI) in Shimla. Malleswari said watching three-time gold medal winner weightlifter Naim Suleymanoglu (1988 Seoul, 1992 Barcelona, 1996 Atlanta) of Turkey train remains one of her most memorable Olympic moments. &ldquo;Suleymanoglu was my idol and everyday I used to wait at the Olympic Village&rsquo;s training area just to watch him. His techniques were the best that I have ever witnessed,&rdquo; she signed off. u00a0

Karnam Malleswari says her third-place finish in 2000 was outstanding as it was India's only medal in Sydney

Bronze in Sydney was no less than a gold: Malleswari

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Bronze in Sydney was no less than a gold: Malleswari

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