The 47-year-old mother of two teenagers, Bhavana Tokekar, defies the norm, as she went on to win 4 gold medals in the power lifting category at the Open Asian Championships in Russia. This wonder woman has proved that age is just a number. Bhavana, who hails from Maharashtra, scored big at the Open Asian Power lifting Championships organised by the World Power lifting Congress in Chelyabinsk, Russia. She took part in the “Under 67.5 Masters 2” category (45-50 age group), and this was the first-ever competition she participated. Making India and herself proud, this middle-aged woman has knocked it out of the park!
Interestingly Bhavana, a full time home maker and wife of Air Force fighter pilot Gp Capt S Tokekar started power lifting training after the members of the Indian Air Force (IAF) broke the myth about weightlifting. She browsed on the internet and researched about weightlifting through YouTube videos. It was only before 6 years that Bhavana began her training for power lifting only to become a champion. She began to workout in 2011 only to combat the side effects of some medicine she was prescribed. First, she began cycling, and slowly moved to a gym setup by 2012.
She came across World Power lifting Congress (WPC) Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh state head Mohammed Azmat while browsing on the internet and found her inspiration. She casually asked Azmat if she could represent team India in the international power lifting event. She learnt about the techniques, rules and regulations of power lifting and got selected for the Masters 2 category (40-45 age group). Bhavna recalled that she got guidance from Azmat online as well.
During her interactions with the media after winning, Bhavana said: “There are many myths surrounding body building, weightlifting and other strength sports, especially related to women, like it is meant only for young people and that it makes the body bulky. I started training initially when I was 41, but I wanted to be sure of it since I didn’t want to injure myself or do the wrong technique since weightlifting is not popular here. Taking part in competitions was a far cry for me, as I didn’t know if I could participate in events at this age, or if I would be able to match up to the standards.”
