‘It means a lot’: Aditi Nandy after clinching gold medal in Masters 1 category at World Pro Powerlifting Championship

KOLKATA: Powerlifting, a sport struggling to be on India’s radar, has a few aspirants who relentlessly pursue it in the nation, and Bengal’s Aditi Nandy is one of them.

Aditi brought pride to her country after clinching the Gold Medal in the Masters 1 category at the World Pro Powerlifting Championship under UWSFF, where athletes from countries such as Iran, Sri Lanka, Italy, and others participated.

In her category, Aditi competed strongly against lifters from various countries like Bahrain and Iran, ultimately securing the top podium position for India with a total lift of 230 kg (squat 80 kg, bench 40 kg, deadlift 110 kg) in the U52 kg bodyweight category.

While speaking, Aditi opened up that winning a gold medal for India at the international level means a lot to her. “And stepping into an international platform where a lot of players from different countries were there, I mean, I never actually thought about it. I dreamt of it in January this year while I was participating in the Asians. I have a vision board for myself when it comes to sports.”

Aditi, who won a silver medal at the Asian Championship, added that she will play many internationals in the coming years.

“My micro-step was to win the Asian. After that, I wanted to win at the international level. So, after winning a silver medal in Asian, I had a dream board for myself that I wanted to play. And fortunately, this came up. And yes, I was there, and it was an amazing experience, honestly. Experiencing it for the first time. In the coming years, I will play many internationals. But this will always be very special since this is the first championship at the international level.”

Aditi opened up about her powerlifting journey. The Indian powerlifter said that she came from a corporate background, doing a 9-to-5 job, and decided to powerlift just to lose weight. However, Aditi loved the sport after doing strength training, including deadlifts.

“I just started, not exactly powerlifting, but I started like anybody in my domain because I come from a different background. I am from a corporate background, and I do a proper 9-to-5 job. So, I wanted to lose weight, and you know that was just the beginning goal. But then I got into strength training, and gradually I started loving deadlifts and smooth bands and was doing well. And yes, it was the love for the sport and the love for the movements like squats and deadlifts that got me into where I am today,” Aditi said.

When Aditi was asked about her daily routine, the Indian powerlifter opened up about skipping meals, as she was from a corporate background. Aditi highlighted that for a regular powerlifter, proper diet and recovery are a must for training.

“Not like a regular powerlifter, as I said. Like a regular powerlifter, definitely, you go to the gym in the morning, maybe after your proper meals, a pre-workout meal, and then a post-workout meal. They spend about four or five hours in the gym, and after that they rest because, in our sport, recovery is very important and you need to sleep a lot. You need to have a little stress-free mind so that your muscle relaxes and you get back to a better session next time,” Aditi added.

“I do not have that luxury or the privilege of that. So, I am somebody who has to work a nine-hour shift in a pretty demanding role. And with all that anxiety, stress, and all these things, I’m already brain-drained. By the time I go to training and train for two hours or two and a half hours, I sometimes miss my meals. And then I go back home for my dinner, and I sleep. So, on days like Saturdays or Sundays, I try to rest as much as possible rather than going out. That is the only way of recovery.”

Aditi talked about the challenges she faced at the start of her journey and the sport’s male-dominated nature.

“Yes, of course, because at the time I started powerlifting, at 22 years old, at that time it was still a very, very niche sport. I remember that it used to be a cult sport. I mean, not many people were doing it. I think in the last one or two years, a lot of influences and a lot of people have come into this sport, and right now it is trending in India. So, at that point, I faced a lot of difficulty because it was a male-dominant sport at that time, but not now.” (ANI)