Bhagwani Devi picked up the shot put for the first time at 94. Up until then, she had lived a life of hardship and sorrow. Born in Haryana’s Khedka village, she worked long hours in the field to fend for her family. She also underwent bypass surgery in 2007. All her past sorrows turned to happiness when she embraced sports.
Within six months of taking up athletics in January 2022, when her grandson and coach Vikas Dagar gave her a shot put, Devi won three medals at the World Masters Championships (outdoors) in Finland last year.
She won gold in the 100-metre race and a bronze in the shot put and discus throw in the 90–94 age category. Soon, word spread about her achievement, and people started calling her ‘Sprinter Dadi’. Now, at 95, when people are barely able to walk, Devi is ‘sprinting’ towards her dream of bringing laurels to India.
Last week, she clinched three gold medals at the World Masters Athletics Indoor Championship 2023 in Torun, Poland, in the 60-metre sprint, discus throw, and shot put. Just being able to compete at international sporting meets at this age is a testament to the Najafgrah nonagenarian’s fitness and resilience as she continues to defy age. And she doesn’t plan to stop any time soon.
“Aur jeetungi, jab take jeeungi tab tak jeetati hi jaaungi. (I will win more; till the time I’m alive, I will keep winning medals,” she said on Tuesday after returning from Poland.
According to the championships’ website, Devi ran the 60-metre sprint in 36.59 seconds. She competed in the women’s 85-plus category (a combined event of W85 and W95), and she was the lone runner in the W95 category. Five other competitors of W85 also ran along with her, and they were awarded separate gold, silver, and bronze medals.
In shot put, Devi produced a best throw of 2.93 metres, and she was the lone competitor in the W95 category. Just like in the 60-metre sprint, she took part in the shot put in a combined W80-plus event along with competitors from the W80, W85, and W90 categories.
“Her next target is the Asian Masters Championships in November in the Philippines.” “She will be competing for the first time in the Asian Championships, and we are hoping to win gold medals there as well,” her coach Vikas stated.