20-07-2025
Battling poverty, Bhavani powers to Asian Weightlifting Gold
VIZIANAGARAM: Braving poverty and adverse social conditions, the mason's daughter had built a career in sports lifting three gold medals and making her way to the preparatory mat at Patiala for the ensuing 2026 Commonwealth Games to be held at Glasgow, Scotland.
Seventeen year old Reddy Bhavani won triple gold in weightlifting in the Asian Youth and Junior Championships held at Astana in Kazakhstan.
The lift and gold were not that easy for the teenager, daughter of a mason, who had to overcome poverty and challenging situations in academics. Bhavani hails from a tiny village Konda Karakam and is second of three sisters and her father Reddy Adinaaryana works as a mason for livelihood.
Despite the lack of proper training facilities and nutritious food, she excelled in various tournaments and her story resonates the importance of passion, perseverance, and the potential for individuals to overcome adversity and achieve fame as Bhavvani is now undergoing at the Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports (NSNIS), Patiala for the ensuing Commonwealth Games.
It has been her mother Madhavi's strong desire to make her daughters as sports persons that was the drive that led to the success of Bhavani. The mother took her to the sports stadium and was put under the tutelage of Challa Rami who had coached international weightlifters including Moida Ramakrishana, K Venkatalaxmi.
Bhavani joined coaching in 2018 from Challa Ramu, and underwent training until she was selected for Sports Training Center (STC), Eluru in 2022. Bhavani was selected for nationals and won the bronze medal at Bhuvaneswar in 2021. The father had to sell their house for the marriage of his eldest daughter. Watching the situation, Bhavani decided to give up the sport, but moved by her situation, Gadipalli Anand, a weightlifting coach, gave the much needed support financially. She was then selected for National Centre of Excellence (NCOE), Aurangabad established by Sports Authority of India (SAI) for nationals and is undergoing trails for 2026 Commonwealth Games.
