AHMEDABAD: In a stunning show of raw power, a couple and their daughter from the city set the stage on fire at Wyndham Orlando Resort International in Orlando, Florida, winning three medals at the World Powerlifting Congress (WPC) World Championships 2022. While 10-year-old Kanak Gurjar and her mother Dharini Gurjar won gold medals in their respective categories, Indersingh Gurjar bagged a silver. The event concluded on Saturday.
Powerlifting, a non-Olympic event, is a strength sport comprising squat, bench press and deadlift.
Competing in the 44kg category, Kanak, who weighs 37 kg, won a gold medal by lifting a deadlift of 60kg. She failed to participate in the entire powerlifting as the mandatory entry for bench press was set at 25kg.
"As the entry for bench press was set at 25 kg and Kanak could do a bench press of only 20kg, she could not participate in the entire powerlifting competition. However, she made up for it by winning a gold medal with a deadlift of 60 kg and breaking the world record in squat by lifting 50 kg," her mother Dharini told ToI from the US.
Kanak could hardly hide her excitement at winning the gold medal. Speaking to ToI, she said, "I'm very happy that I lifted 60kg in the deadlift. I had practised lifting 55 kg only but managed to lift 60 kg easily. When I tried to lift 70 kg, it was tough and I failed in my effort. I also broke the world record by lifting 50 kg in the squat."
Asked how she managed to lift weights so easily, she replied nonchalantly, "I think I've this in blood and so I'm able to lift weights easily. When I could not do the bench press because the entry was set at 25 kg, I cried a lot. I'm targeting a medal in March in the Egypt event, where I've got an entry based on this performance."
Unhappy with her own performance, Dharini to focus more on daughter’s Competing in the women's 82.5kg category, Dharini lifted 370 kg to win a gold medal. She did a squat of 170 kg, a bench press of 70 kg and 130 kg deadlift to clinch the yellow metal, a performance, which she said, she wasn't happy with.
"I'm not happy with my performance as my total lifting has reduced a lot since the 2018 competition. I could not practice consistently because of the festival and the closing of the gym just before the competition. I'll focus more on Kanak and my husband's participation in future events."
Indersingh too competed in the men's 82.5 kg category. He lifted 620kg for the silver medal, missing the gold by a whisker of 2.5 kg. Indersingh completed a squat of 230kg, bench press of 140kg and a deadlift of 250 kg.
Other Indians in the fray too returned with medals.
Mehul Dabhani and Bhavesh Dabhani pocketed gold medals in 90kg and 110kg categories respectively while Nafish Khan Pathan returned with a bronze in the 82.5 kg category. Siddharth Trivedi and Kailash Sikabju bagged bronze medals in classic row, in which powerlifting is done without equipment.