Chennai homemaker is CWG fame, lifts five gold

CHENNAI: Seven years back when Amudha Suganthi Babu, a 41-year-old homemaker from Mangadu, joined a gym to keep her body fit, she had no idea even in her wildest dreams that she would one day bag gold medals in the Commonwealth powerlifting competition. Her untiring efforts resulted in not just one gold medal but five in the recently held Commonwealth Powerlifting and Bench-press championship held in New Zealand.

“I got married in 2001 and till 2015 was a normal homemaker. Even when I joined the gym in 2015, I had no idea about powerlifting. But it all changed due to the continuous encouragement of my gym coach and my husband Babu as I started participating in the competitions. In 2016, I initially participated in national strength-lifting competition in Chattisgarh but won no medal. However, continuous failures resulted in intense practice and with constant encouragement from my family, I managed to win five gold medals in the commonwealth championship,” Amudha Suganthi told DT Next.

Held in Auckland from November 27 to December 4, Suganthi bagged five gold medals, a silver and two best lifter awards in 69 kilogram master-1 category at the commonwealth powerlifting competition.

After her return to India, Suganthi said 2019 was the year that changed the course of her powerlifting career as till 2019 she was not keen on winning medals and was mediocre but after repeated losses and humiliations, she won her first gold in a powerlifting competition in Rajasthan where she also bagged her first ‘strong woman title’. There was no turning back since then for Suganthi as in December, last year, she won nine gold medals in a national powerlifting competition in Alwar, Rajasthan, and all nine were record-breaking performances and also bagged two ‘strong woman titles’.