Kol woman wins sixth gold at int’l kettlebell championship
Times of India | 21 November 2024
12 Kolkata: A practising chartered accountant, the mother to a nine-year-old son and a champion athlete, Kolkata's Shivani Agarwalla has now become the first Indian woman to win a gold medal in the prestigious international kettlebell sports world championship held in Belgium last week. This is her sixth world championship overall, the highest among all Indian women athletes.
Agarwalla has topped among 150 athletes from 25 countries in the marathon format at the International Kettlebell Marathon Federation and Associated Disciplines (IKMF), where she lifted the bell for an hour in a "one arm snatch" and scored 864 repetitions to win the event. She also earned the "candidate of master" (CMS) of sports rank for the achievement, the only Indian athlete to receive it.
The 41-year-old New Alipore resident took up kettlebell much later in her life — in 2015 — to shed post-partum weight. She was encouraged by her coach and invested hours of practice, juggling her professional and personal life to emerge a world champion.
She was also a recipient of the Pride of Bengal 2022 award in the Young Achievers in Sports category, alongside luminaries like Leander Paes. PM Narendra Modi also wrote a letter to Shivani's father, Anil Kumar Shah, congratulating him on her achievements.
"Had I not started focusing on my fitness to address my postpartum weight concerns, I could have never found my true passion. I was happy with my career as a CA and was super excited to be a mother, but the transition to motherhood brought its share of physical and emotional hurdles. Seeking to restore my physical strength and self-assurance, I ventured into fitness training, ultimately discovering kettlebell sports," said Agarwalla, who credits her success to her coach Arnav Sarkar and husband Mayank.
Speaking on the sidelines of a press conference at Kolkata Press Club, the Modern High alumnus shared how she weighed 80kgs for most of her school life and never participated even in the school march past. She said if she could transform herself and make her country proud, others could too. "There is great potential for kettlebell sport in India. Age is not a barrier in this sport. But what we need is a proper federation to nurture more athletes," said Agarwalla, who is currently pursuing law.