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At 47, This Mother Of Two Wins Gold At World Powerlifting Championship

The year 2019 remained faithful to Bhavna as in May this year, she attended trials in Bengaluru and got selected for the U67.5 category in the 45-50 age group. Soon, the homemaker-turned-powerlifting mother brought home four gold medals at the Open Asian Powerlifting Championships from Russia in July this year.

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Ria Das
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Bhavna Tokekar powerlifting

Age defying Pune based powerlifter Bhavna Tokekar, a 47-year-old mother of two teenagers, just won a gold medal at the World Powerlifting Championship in Moscow. Her extraordinary strength — both physically and mentally — is what makes Bhavna a fitting testament of empowerment in the field of sports. She is creating milestones, restoring our faith in an active lifestyle at a mature age, especially related to women.

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Bhavna recently took to Instagram to share her moment of triumph with her followers:

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World championship held at Moscow Russia. 14th December 2019...,. SQUATS...100kgs BENCH PRESS..70kgs World record DEADLIFT..127.5kgs Total..297.5kgs 15th December 2019 BENCHPRESS...72.5kgs DEADLIFT....132.5kgs Having won three Gold medals at the World Powerlifting Championship in Full Powerlifting , Raw Bench Press and Raw Dead Lift events of AWPC Classic Raw in Masters2 (45-49yrs) Under 67.5kg body weight . It has been a fairly long journey. Today I stand in reverence for the guidance and training of Sgt Mohanty, LAC Sharma, Sgt Raj Nayak and Cpl Aruvi, my trainers, who made me stronger, both physically and mentally, my present coach Mohammed AzmatMohammedAzmat for bringing me into Powerlifting, refining and polishing my techniques all this while through his specifically tailored training program and WPC India head Daljit Singh for providing me the platform to make our nation proud by being a member of the Indian squad....Indian squad. I owe a lot to Yameen and Ajay for helping me execute Coach Azmat's training program to the T.I would fail if I don’t acknowledge all the support and prayers from my fans and well wishers all through since my Asian Championship win. Having improved my total lift by 30 kg in full Powerlifting, 10kgs in Bench press and 12.5kgs in my Deadlift from my previous total at Asian Championship, I know I could have pushed the figures even further, but for some minor faults. Life is a constant learning and I’m not perfect either. So that is my motivation for the next meet. I aim to and will beat my current total yet again. This wouldn't have been possible without unflinching support from my Husband and kids. I take a bow for blessings from God and selfless support from my Russian and Indian friends who posed absolute faith in me and my hard work, constantly encouraging me to give my best shot to the platform and the sport. @therelentlessstrength

A post shared by Bhavana Bhave Tokekar (@bhavnatokekar) on

The mother of two, Bhavna made headlines earlier this year when won four gold medals at the Open Asian Powerlifting Championships of AWPC/WPC at Chelyabinsk in Russia. Speaking to SheThePeople.TV about choosing a sport this late, Bhavna, who started weight-lifting just six years ago, said she looks up to Mary Kom for inspiration. “She went ahead with marriage, had kids and still competed where people had ruled out that she is finished now. Family first and rest everything later,” she added. Have been maintaining an active lifestyle all her life, Bhavna had run two half marathons with her husband, Gp Capt S Tokekar, who is an Indian Air Force fighter pilot.

Bhavna was born in Vidisha and brought up in Gujarat. Joining gym was unplanned as she wanted to reduce the side effects of medicines she took for the treatment of skin inflammation. She made up her mind about Powerlifting when IAF bodybuilding team told her about the benefits weight lifting in increasing her body strength. “I wanted to become fitter, I wanted to be stronger and that’s when I started weight training,” Bhavna revealed to SheThePeople.TV. She is redefining myths surrounding bodybuilding and reshaping her dreams.

READ: Meet Tanaz Mohammed: A Hockey Player Who Is A Football Coach

Key Takeaways:

  • Pune based powerlifter Bhavna Tokekar, a 47-year-old mother of two teenagers, just won a gold medal at the World Powerlifting Championship in Moscow
  • Before this, Bhavna made headlines earlier this year when won four gold medals at the Open Asian Powerlifting Championships of AWPC/WPC at Chelyabinsk in Russia
  • Bhavna started weight-lifting just six years ago, and had run two half marathons with her husband, Gp Capt S Tokekar, who is an Indian Air Force fighter pilot

An incredible year so far

The year 2019 remained faithful to Bhavna as in May this year, she attended trials in Bengaluru and got selected for the U67.5 category in the 45-50 age group. Soon, the homemaker-turned-powerlifting mother brought home four gold medals at the Open Asian Powerlifting Championships from Russia in July this year. Before that, same year, she approached the WPC Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh state head for competing in the powerlifting event. Following the selection for Masters2 category in the 45-50 age category, Bhavana participated in the Women’s Masters 45-49 AWPC classic in the World Powerlifting Congress (WPC) World Championships 2019. After rigorous training and the twists and turns life brought her, she claimed a name in the World Championships which included squat 100kg, bench press 70kg and deadlift 127.5kg totalling 297.5kg.

Also: Powerlifting Gives Me Leverage To Look At Life Differently: Arathi Arun

Talking about her passion for powerlifting and giving advice to women who wish to pursue their passion post motherhood, she said, “There is nothing like post or pre-motherhood. Whatever you enjoy, you have to keep doing it without thinking of the benefits. Motherhood isn’t something that’s forced upon you. It is something you should cherish you should enjoy and be proud of, because you are raising the future of our country. You are bringing a child to this world and you should be proud of it. It should be the priority of all the mothers to raise their children properly.”

READ: Meet Brishti Bagchi: First Indian Woman Player In Spanish Football League

Feature Image Credit: Bhavna Tokekar

Read More Stories By Ria Das

sports women in sports Women who inspire Indian women in Sports Bhavna Tokekar Bhavna Tokekar powerlifting Powerlifting Championship World Powerlifting Championship Moscow
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