Srinagar: Fardeem Hussain, a Srinagar based 21-year-old powerlifter has clinched a gold medal at national level powerlifting championship. With this, he has become the first young Kashmiri powerlifter to attain this feat.
The competition was organized by the World Raw Powerlifting Federation(WRPF) at Gurugram, Haryana.
As many as 500 athletes from different states and union territories had participated in the competition.
Hussain, who has won many competitions in Jammu and Kashmir at district level, clinched the gold medal in 80+ kilogram weight category.
“The competition was very tough as I was competing with seniors in the championship. Finally in the 80+ kilogram weight category, I bagged the gold medal. This was my first participation in the national level competition,” he said.
Fardeem said he has been preparing for the last one month for this competition. “I started building my strength for the last couple of months. It was a tough training regime for me given the less time available for me for participation in the competition,” he said.
Fardeem’s journey in powerlifting is not less than an inspiration since he had suffered grievous injuries in a road accident last year.
“My foot had some grievous injuries as a truck ran over it. I was bedridden for more than six months. I gradually started going to the gym and had to start again from the beginners level. I am thankful to Allah for giving me enough strength to win this competition,” he said.
Earlier this year, Fardeem won the Jammu and Kashmir Powerlifting State Powerlifting Championship 2024.
Before it, Fardeem had also bagged the Mr Jammu and Kashmir title in the Jammu and Kashmir Powerlifting State Powerlifting Championship in 2021.
