Bodybuilder Bhumika Sharma makes nation proud with historic win

Bhumika won the gold medal at the Miss World bodybuilding championship

What’s the story?

21-year old Bhumika Sharma from Dehradun recently became the first Indian woman to win the Miss World Body Building Championship, held in Italy last week. She defeated 50 women from across the world in the final round to win the competition. Bhumika was one of the 27 Indians to take part in the tournament.

A second-year student at a private college in Dehradun, she won the gold in an international championship organised by the World Amateur Body Building Association (WABBA).

She said, "When I first started training I had a lot of fat on my body. There were times when people made fun of me. But once I developed clean cut muscles, less and less people ridiculed me."

Bhumika faced many tough challenges and one of them was her desire to create a space for herself in the male-dominated sport which was mostly met with ridicule.

"Bodybuilding is a male-dominated field and at times men would get insecure when they would see my workouts. There is a lot of negativity towards women bodybuilders. At times I was demotivated. I also suffered a neck injury during the first year of my training. But it was my mother's constant support that kept me on track," she said.

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Bhumika had initially started off with shooting and had wanted to grow in that profession. She had even developed an interest in Taekwondo, even winning a gold at a national level championship.

The heart of the matter

Bhumika had the support of her family, with her mother, Hansa Manral Sharma being the head coach of India women's weightlifting team.

The Doon girl got into bodybuilding after a trainer at a gym introduced her to some workout videos. She revealed that it was like a revelation for her because until then she had not thought that women could have muscles like men. She knew at that very moment that this is what she wanted to do.

The bodybuilder has maintained a very rigorous fitness routine, which includes a strict diet and working out seven hours in a day. According to her, she also counts every calorie she intakes.

What’s next?

Sharma will now focus on the Miss Universe Body Building Championship scheduled to be held in December.

Author’s take

It is great to see a young female star doing so well in what is a predominantly male sport and Bhumika will look to build on this gold medal winning performance with more stellar performances in the future for India.

Edited by Staff Editor