Karenjeet Kaur Bains, a 22-year-old powerlifter from Warwickshire, England, will be one of many powerlifters competing at the World Classic Powerlifting Championships in June. Bains, however isn’t just representing Britain as any powerlifter, she is making history as the first Sikh woman to represent Britain at the World Classic Powerlifting Championships. The World Classic Powerlifting Championships run from June 3rd to June 15th in Helsingborg, Sweden.
On Thursday, BBC News ran a video that featured Bains’ story. The -63kg Junior Powerlifter most recently competed at the Women’s British University Championships in April and brought home third place with a 375kg total.
At the IPF World Classic Powerlifting Championships, she is on the hunt to improve her personal best total and make an historic splash for British powerlifting.
In the BBC video, Bains credits her father, Kuldip, for introducing her to the sport. He was a powerlifter himself and for him to see his daughter taking after him, and competing on a world stage is a dream come true.
“To see your daughter compete at the World Championships is massive,” he said at :44 seconds into the video. “It’s something that I couldn’t do, so to see her on the stage, I’m probably going to be in floods of tears watching her.”
“I’m very proud of my heritage and my culture and my roots and to try and represent the diverse background that we have in the U.K.” Bains said :5 seconds into the video. And while she is the first Sikh woman to compete at the World Championships, she has much bigger aspirations.
“I know I’m the first, but I don’t want to be the last for sure,” Bains said at :32 seconds into the video.
Since Bains was young, she said her dad has been watching her compete, and in just a few short months he will get to watch his daughter not only lift for gold on the world stage, but represent and inspire many young female powerlifters of the future.
Feature image from @karenjeet_bains Instagram page.
