The Power on His Shoulders to Squat, Bench Press, Dead Lift

Born mute and deaf, Bhagavathy, has won numerous national and international awards in power lifting. With the help of his wife, he talks to City Express about his goals
The Power on His Shoulders to Squat, Bench Press, Dead Lift

CHENNAI:Every day, 43-year-old  Bhagavathy travels more than 25 kilometres from his home in Avadi to his fitness centre in Kottur, where he trains people in power lifting. Ask him if he ever feels tired and Bhagavathy, who was born deaf and mute, signals to his wife Devi to tell the reporter that he doesn’t mind it.

Devi echoes his reply and says, “It is his passion for powerlifting; he can’t imagine doing anything else.”  For the uninitiated, powerlifting consists of three attempts at maximal weight on three lifts: squat, bench press, and deadlift.

Born in Tirunelveli, Bhagavathy came to Chennai in the late 80s, and was drawn to the sport after he watched his uncle pursuing it at his native place. Watching him and setting his own regimen, his first few attempts were terrible. “But he wouldn’t accept defeat, he practiced many nights and soon secured the third place at a  State-level championship,” she says. He moved to Chennai and set up a tea stall near Madhya Kailash and continued to practise hard. Bhagavathy started his gym, Hercules Health Center, in 1995 and has since been training a number of aspiring power lifters.

After his first appearance in the power lifting arena in 1994, Bhagavathy has been a regular at championships at the state, national and international levels. He has so far clinched the second and third place in Asian Power Lifting Championship tournaments held across the continent. In the national circuit, he has won the title seven times apart from a number of wins in the state and federation appearances.

Recognising his feat, Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa had awarded him a sum of `1 lakh in the late 90s after he won a medal at an international championship.

After securing a job in sports quota at ICF in 1998, Bhagavathy has coached a number of people in the sport. Devi adds, “He has also made a request to the Sports Ministry to give power lifting more visibility. At the moment, weightlifting is more popular and he wants to make power lifting equally popular.”

His daughter Veeralakshmi, a  student of Class 9, is following in her father’s footsteps. Winning a second place in the state-level championship held in Sathyamangalam early this year, she came fourth in the national level meet held in Erode. “I trained just for a month and now I am preparing for more tournaments. I want to take it up seriously and excel like my father,” she says.

Bhagavathy, who is also the treasurer of Chennai District Powerlifting Association, believes that the sport will gain recognition, if it finds a place in the Olympics. He wife surmises his efforts, “There are close to 150 members in the city. In the state, there are close to 350. My husband wants to see the group growing and he is doing all that he can in his capacity at ICF and his gym to encourage more people to enter the field.”

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The New Indian Express
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