Researcher Deepika Chowdhury bags 2017 World Powerlifting Championship title

What's the story?

Deepika Chowdhury, a 34-year-old microbiologist associated with the National Institute of Virology hogged the headlines as she clinched the gold medal at the recently concluded World Powerlifting Championship that was held in New Delhi.

A fitness freak who has also taken to modelling since 2012, Deepika came into the competition on the back of a good stint in the Arnold Classic, a competition held in Australia for professional bodybuilders in which she placed seventh this year.

In case you didn't know

The World Powerlifting Championship was held in New Delhi under the escutcheon of the World Powerlifting Union. Sub-divided into different weight categories, the four-day which commenced on the 23rd of October 2017 witnessed a participation of over 75 women from all over the globe.

On a personal level, Deepika Chowdhury holds the unique distinction of being the only female athlete in India to hold a pro card in bodybuilding which she was given on March 29, 2014, after she emerged as the champion in the Novice category in one of America's biggest fitness competitions, the Battle on the Beach.

Heart of the matter

Starting off as only an athlete in her school days, Deepika credits her husband for having ignited her interest in hardcore gymming and bodybuilding. With an interest to go deeper into the 'art of gymming', Deepika took up the basic training course along with a sports nutrition course from the K11 academy in Pune. When she travelled to Delhi to attend the SHERU Classic bodybuilding event, she realised that she had fallen in love with bodybuilding and set out on a journey to take part in competitions all over the world.

What's next?

Although the powerlifting champion spends most of her time on research aspects related to her field of work, she plans to train hard in time for the 2018 version of the Arnold Classic and bring more laurels to the country.

Sportskeeda's Take

With a lot of sportspersons taking to powerlifting, its a magnificent achievement given that Deepika has had to balance both her research and bodybuilding careers in order to achieve this feat.

This would undoubtedly act as an inspiration to the youngsters and also serve as a message that to achieve something, there is no shortcut to hard work.