Nelson’s Amreesa Bhabra won silver at the junior national weightlifting championship on March 20.
The 19 year old, who competed in the 76-kilogram female division, finished first with her snatch lift and second in clean-and-jerk to score 161 points and win silver.
Bhabra said she was thrilled to be on the podium in her first appearance at junior nationals.
“I hit the numbers I wanted, and I managed to place and actually medal this year, so I was pretty stoked about that,” she said.
Bhabra wasn’t the only Nelson resident competing virtually at the championship.
Levi Taylor, who in February won silver at the provincial juniors, finished sixth out of 10 athletes at nationals in the men’s 67-kilogram category.
Bhabra is going to university at UBC Okanagan in Kelowna, where she also trains and had her lifts filmed for juniors that were judged the same day.
Weightlifting is in Bhabra’s blood.
Her father Hardial won two senior weightlifting national titles in 1988 and 1989, and her brother Amit also previously competed at junior nationals.
But Amreesa Bhabra, a multi-sport athlete, didn’t feel a draw to lifting until she watched one of Amit’s competitions where the female athletes made an impression.
“I was like, I guess I can do this too. If the guys can do it, why can’t I?”
Bhabra’s aspirations could take her to a bigger stage. She said she’d like to represent Canada at the world championships.
Nelson athletes, meanwhile, have become mainstays at junior nationals. Emily Taylor won bronze at junior nationals in January 2020, while Jaydon Wouters competed with Amit Bhabra at the 2017 event.
@tyler_harper | tyler.harper@nelsonstar.com
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