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.
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Karenjeet Kaur Bains |
| Nickname(s) | "Bullet Bains", "Athena" |
| Nationality | British Sikh |
| Born | 23 July 1996 Warwick, Warwickshire, England |
| Alma mater | Durham University |
| Height | 5 ft 4 in (163 cm) |
| Weight | 67 kg (148 lb)[1] |
| Sport | |
| Country |  Great Britain |
| Sport | Powerlifting |
Early life
editKarenjeet 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
editWhilst 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]
References
edit- ^ "Karenjeet is record breaker". Myton School. 14 October 2022.
- ^ "Britain's First Female Powerlifter Is A Sikh! Do You Know Her Story?". ghaintpunjab.com.
- ^ a b 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b c d e 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.
- ^ a b c "More powerlifting success for Karenjeet". Myton School. Archived from the original on 3 July 2023. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
- ^ a b 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.
- ^ a b "The accountant proving there's strength in numbers". ICAEW. 28 July 2022. Archived from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
- ^ "EXCLUSIVE: Team GB's first female Sikh powerlifter on 'smashing stereotypes' and breaking barriers". Mirror. 20 January 2022.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "BBC One - Gladiators, Series 1 - Athena". BBC. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
- ^ "BBC Gladiator Athena on training, the importance of mental grit and representing South Asian women". Women's Health. 12 January 2024.
- ^ "Gladiators reveal The Weakest Link crossover special". uk-news.yahoo.com.