But according to reports, at 47, Bhavna Tokekar won four gold medals at the Open Asian Powerlifting Championships of AWPC/WPC at Chelyabinsk in Russia on Sunday.     

Reportedly, the championships that were organized by the World Powerlifting Congress had 500 players taking part, out of which 14 were Indians. Tokekar weighed in 64.9 kg and took part in the Under 67.5 Masters 2 Category.  

Apparently, Bhavna, who is the wife of an Indian Air Force fighter pilot started with weight training after members of the IAF bodybuilding team asked her to do so to increase her strength. She was already maintaining a healthy lifestyle and had run two half marathons with her husband. 

She started with weight lifting at the age of 41 and added, 

There are many myths surrounding body building, weight lifting 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 weight lifting is not popular here.  

Bhavna came to know about this championship through Instagram and attended the trials for this competition in Bengaluru. 

I had to undergo technique corrections for powerlifting and I was informed about the rules and regulations. I trained hard with my new technique and was guided by Azmat sir online as well. 

This was the first time she won a gold and the first time she ever participated in a championship.