94-Year-Old Bhagwani Devi Dagar Aces Finland's World Masters Athletics Championships 2022

Bhagwani Devi Dagar, 94, represented India and won gold and two bronze medals yesterday in the World Masters Athletics Championships 2022 in Finland, reported ANI. Full of positive responses, the tweet got over 1000 retweets and more than 9000 likes.

For athletes 35 years of age and older, the World Masters Athletics Championships are the biennial masters’ athletics championships held under the aegis of World Masters Athletics, formerly known as the World Association of Veteran Athletes. 

Bhagwani Devi Dagar

Age categories of five years are used to group masters athletes. The National Masters Athletics Championships were held in Chennai, and nonagenarian athlete Bhagwani Deswal took home three gold medals. Bhagwani Devi thus met the requirements to compete for India in the 2022 World Masters Athletics Championships.

Reportedly, at the Delhi State Athletics Championship, Bhagwani Devi had previously won three gold medals in the 100-meter dash, shot put, and javelin throw.

Actor Kangana Ranaut allegedly hailed the courageous and motivating woman on social media in the interim. Kangana posted a sincere message on Instagram to congratulate the winner. Kangana's Instagram story states: “94-year-old Bhagwani Devi of India won the gold medal in the 100 metres with the timing of 24.74 seconds at Tampere, Finland in World Masters Athletics Championship.”

Social media also expressed its pride in Devi. One of the tweets read, “This is such a great piece of news that made my day. Congratulations to Bhagwani Devi Dagar. She has made us all proud.”

Another user replied to ANI’s tweet, saying, “94 years old and here she's winning medals for her country. What an unfathomable spirit! I'm so proud of her!”

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Someone else added, “Reading this news gives me goosebumps if I ever make any excuses towards the achievement of success in life.” 

These Championships are "the world's largest track meet," with more athletes competing there than at Olympic track and field competitions every time. For instance, the 1617 athletes competing in the 1988 Olympics paled in comparison to the 4951 participants at the 1989 Outdoor Championships. These Championships are "more like the Olympics than the Olympics," according to American athlete and four-time Olympic champion Al Oerter.