Karenjeet Kaur Bains

Last updated

Karenjeet Bains
Personal information
Full nameKarenjeet Kaur Bains
Nickname(s)"Bullet Bains", "Athena"
Nationality British Sikh
Born (1996-07-23) 23 July 1996 (age 28)
Warwick, Warwickshire, England
Alma mater Durham University
Height5 ft 4 in (163 cm)
Weight67 kg (148 lb) [1]
Sport
Country Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Great Britain
Sport Powerlifting

Karenjeet Kaur Bains (born 23 July 1996) is an English powerlifter, former track and field athlete and television personality known for appearing on the television show Gladiators as "Athena". She has won the Commonwealth Powerlifting Championships junior title and became the first British Sikh woman to represent her country at both the European and World championships. Her first senior event was the World Classic Bench Press Championships in Vilnius, Lithuania.

Contents

Early life

Karenjeet Kaur Bains was born 23 July 1996 [2] in Warwickshire, England, to Sikh parents from Punjab, India. Her mother came from a family of wrestlers and her father was a former bodybuilder and powerlifter. [3] [4] She attended Myton School, where she was a champion track and field athlete, racing in the 100 metres, 200 metres and 300 metres, and Hammer throw. [5] [6] She earned the nickname "Bullet Bains" at school due to her speed. Her older twin brothers were also athletes, competing nationally in the 400 metres hurdles. [7]

Bains started to train with weights in order to increase her sprinting power, then found she enjoyed powerlifting in its own right. [5] She used the gym at her family home and her father coached her in the exercises of squat, bench press and deadlift; after three months of training, she won her first competition. [7] She attended Durham University, where she gained a degree in accounting. [6] [5] She then worked in audit at KPMG. [8]

Career

Whilst at university, Bains took the British and English powerlifting titles and won the British Universities powerlifting in the junior women's 63 kg category. [6] At the age of 19, she injured her piriformis muscle in her left buttock and it took two years to recover her strength. [5] She then won the Commonwealth Powerlifting Championships junior title and became the first British Sikh woman to represent her country at both the European and World championships. [5] [9] Her first senior event was at the World Classic Bench Press Championships in Vilnius, Lithuania and she came sixth. [3] After six years working for KPMG, Bains switched to working for a small arts company in 2022 and also put her name to an online training app. [8]

In 2024, Bains began to appear on the television show Gladiators as Athena. [10] Despite being only 5 ft 4in tall, one of the all-time shortest Gladiators, [11] she has told to have been training up to 5-6 times in a week, to maintain her physique for the show. [12] In 2024, she appears on the renewed quiz show The Weakest Link alongside fellow Gladiators like Giant and Sabre. [13]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Powerlifting</span> Sport

Powerlifting is a strength sport that consists of three attempts at maximal weight on three lifts: squat, bench press, and deadlift. As in the sport of Olympic weightlifting, it involves the athlete attempting a maximal weight single-lift effort of a barbell loaded with weight plates. Powerlifting evolved from a sport known as "odd lifts", which followed the same three-attempt format but used a wider variety of events, akin to strongman competition. Eventually, odd lifts became standardized to the current three.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Magnús Ver Magnússon</span> Icelandic strongman (born 1963)

Magnús Ver Magnússon is an Icelandic former powerlifter and strongman competitor. He is a four-time World's Strongest Man, having won in 1991, 1994, 1995, 1996 and is widely regarded as one of the greatest strongmen of all time.

Riku Kiri is a Finnish former strongman and powerlifter, best known for competing in the World's Strongest Man competition, narrowly missing out on capturing the title on more than one occasion. He has been referred to as: "the strongest man never to win World's Strongest Man."

Donald C. Reinhoudt was an American powerlifter and strongman. He won the IPF World Powerlifting Superheavyweight Championship four consecutive times (1973–1976), and won the World's Strongest Man in 1979.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Becca Swanson</span> American powerlifter, strongwoman and professional wrestler

Rebecca 'Becca' Swanson is an American powerlifter, strongwoman and former professional wrestler. She broke multiple powerlifting world records, including the heaviest squat, bench press, deadlift and the total. Due to her many accomplishments including unbeaten strength world records to-date, she is regarded as "the strongest woman to have ever lived".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cynthia Morrison</span>

Cynthia Morrison aka "Cindini" is an escapologist and strongwoman who is based in Palm Beach, Florida, USA. In 1994, she was the first woman to compete against professional athletes at the Highland games in Scotland. She has competed in powerlifting, and track & field events. Morrison founded the Palm Beach Jousting club, and has won jousting events. She is also a knife thrower, playwright and bull fighter.

Myton School is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form. Most students live locally, although the school attracts students from outside the priority area. The school is located on Myton Road in the town of Warwick in Warwickshire, England. The history of the school in its current form dates from 1968. As of January 2015 the school has around 1,700 students.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ed Coan</span> American powerlifter (born 1963)

Edward Coan is an American powerlifter. He is widely regarded throughout the powerlifting world as the greatest powerlifter of all time. Coan has set over 71 world records in powerlifting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terry Todd</span> American powerlifter and weightlifter

Terence (Terry) Todd January 1, 1938 – July 7, 2018) was an American powerlifter, and Olympic weightlifter. Todd was co-founder of the H.J. Lutcher Stark Center for Physical Culture and Sports, co-editor of Iron Game History: The Journal of Physical Culture, and creator and event director of the Arnold Strongman Classic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Janae Kroc</span> American powerlifter and bodybuilder

Janae Marie Kroczaleski is an American who previously competed as a professional powerlifter and competitive bodybuilder.

Louie Simmons was an American powerlifter and strength coach. He was active as a powerlifter and coach for more than fifty years. Simmons was the founder of Westside Barbell and has developed several training protocols, including the "Conjugate Method". He is also credited with inventing training machines for reverse hyper-extensions and belt squats. In the US powerlifting community he was referred to as the "Godfather of powerlifting".

John Haack is an American powerlifter. Haack is considered one of the greatest powerlifters of all time along with being the greatest pound-for-pound powerlifter of the modern age. Haack is a multiple all-time world record-holder in multiple weight classes. He is the current world record holder in the raw 90 and 100 kilogram weight class.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Viktoria Posmitna</span> Ukrainian athlete

Viktoria Vasylivna Posmitna (Larsson) (Ukrainian: Вікторія Василівна Посмітна (Ларссон); born 7 April 1966 in Kyiv, Ukrainian SSR) – Ukrainian athlete (powerlifting, bodybuilding, fitness), coach, TV host. Honored Master of Sports of Ukraine, Master of Sports of Ukraine of international class, twelve-time champion of Ukraine, multiple winner of the European and World Championships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matthew Yap</span> Singaporean Powerlifter

Matthew Yap Zhe Ren, 叶哲仁 is a Singaporean Powerlifter & Coach, a 4-time Asian Champion and a World Silver medallist. He has broken 4 World records, 13 Asian records and 44 National records. He has also coached his team to several victories on the international stage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matthias Yap</span> Singaporean powerlifter

Matthias Yap Zhe Yao is a Singaporean Powerlifter. He is an Asian Champion and a two-time National Champion under the International Powerlifting Federation (IPF). coached under CoachbyMARC, founded by his elder brother, Marcus Yap.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Farhanna Farid</span> Singaporean powerlifter

Farhanna Farid is a Singaporean powerlifter. She is a 2-time Asian champion and a 4-time national champion. As of 2022, she has broken 6 Asian records and a world record and is also the first Singaporean to win an overall gold medal in an international competition for the female's open category. She made her international competition debut in the 2018 Asian Classic Powerlifting Championships winning three golds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angela Yeo</span> American professional bodybuilder (born 1984)

Angela C. Yeo is an American professional bodybuilder, along with a former professional figure, powerlifter and women's physique contestant. She is currently the second highest ranking professional female bodybuilder.

Heather Connor is an American powerlifter, competing in the 47 kilogram weight class. She is a 2-time IPF world champion and 6-time national champion.

Russel Orhii is an American powerlifter, competing in the 83 kilogram weight class. He is a 2-time IPF World Champion and 6-time National champion.

Bonica Brown is an American powerlifter competing in the IPF. She is a World Games champion, a 4-time Equipped World Champion, a 2-time Sub-Junior Equipped World Champion, and a 7-time Classic World Champion, and she has held multiple world records in each division.

References

  1. ↑ "Karenjeet is record breaker". Myton School. 14 October 2022.
  2. ↑ "Britain's First Female Powerlifter Is A Sikh! Do You Know Her Story?". ghaintpunjab.com.
  3. 1 2 Pilastro, Eleonora (4 October 2022). "British powerlifting champion smashes squat lift world record". Guinness World Records. Archived from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
  4. ↑ Carpenter, Steve (28 October 2016). "Karenjeet Bains wins university gold in Cambridge". Leamington Observer. Archived from the original on 15 August 2022. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Head, Ally (17 November 2021). "This is what it feels like to be the first female Sikh powerlifter to represent Great Britain". Marie Claire UK. Archived from the original on 23 May 2022. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
  6. 1 2 3 "More powerlifting success for Karenjeet". Myton School. Archived from the original on 3 July 2023. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
  7. 1 2 Ramsay, George (7 December 2021). "Powerlifter Karenjeet Kaur Bains 'found a love for being strong.' Now she wants to inspire more women to take up strength sports". CNN. Archived from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
  8. 1 2 "The accountant proving there's strength in numbers". ICAEW. 28 July 2022. Archived from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
  9. ↑ "EXCLUSIVE: Team GB's first female Sikh powerlifter on 'smashing stereotypes' and breaking barriers". Mirror. 20 January 2022.
  10. ↑ Cockerham, Sophie (1 June 2023). "Gladiators 2023 cast: Meet the new line-up". Radio Times. Archived from the original on 6 June 2023. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
  11. ↑ "BBC One - Gladiators, Series 1 - Athena". BBC. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  12. ↑ "BBC Gladiator Athena on training, the importance of mental grit and representing South Asian women". Women's Health. 12 January 2024.
  13. ↑ "Gladiators reveal The Weakest Link crossover special". uk-news.yahoo.com.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.