“I am an ordinary Muslim woman. Hijab is part of my everyday outfit. I never found it odd to wear it during competitions. No sports association has stopped me from using Hijab so far.”

This is Majizia Bhanu, 24, a multi-talented sportswoman from Orkkatteri village in Kerala’s Kozhikode district, who has been winning medals in three different power-centric sports events – arm wrestling, body building and powerlifting – since 2017.

Bhanu, a fourth year Bachelor of Dental Surgery student at the Mahe Institute of Dental Sciences, is now busy preparing for the 40th World Arm Wrestling Championship to be held in Antalya in Turkey from October 13 to 21.

She made the cut with a stunning performance in her debut in the national arm wrestling championship in Lucknow this May. The hijab-clad woman overpowered her rivals in 55 kg weight category with consummate ease for the gold and a ticket to the Worlds.

Majizia Bhanu. Photo courtesy of Outlook magazine

Not many knew that she took to the sport only a month before the national championships. “I found the arm wrestling table for the first time when I entered the fray in the Kozhikode district championship in April 2018,” she said.

After winning the district championships, she participated in the state-level event where she defeated reigning champion Praveena to qualify for the national championships. The rest, as they say, is history.

In February 2018, Bhanu hogged all the limelight when she was adjudged the best woman bodybuilder of Kerala. Wearing a full body black suit and a headscarf, she displayed her physique through four mandatory postures at the state championship in Kochi. The win earned her the moniker ‘Hijab-clad strong woman of Kerala’.

“I participated in the event only after getting assurance from the organisers that I would be allowed to compete wearing the full body suit and head scarf,” she said. “I never trained for it, but I was confident of my capabilities. My coach sent me photos of a few body building poses via WhatsApp hours before the competition. It helped me fetch the title,” she added.

Majizia Bhanu during a training session. Photo Courtesy of Outlook magazine

Bhanu’s tryst with power sports began in 2017. “I began training in powerlifting in 2017 January,” she said. Five months later, she won medals in national and international competitions. “I consider my runner-up performance in Asian Powerlifting Championship in Indonesia in May 2017 as the best in my career so far,” she said.

Passion for sports

Sports has been Bhanu’s passion since her childhood. “When I was a child I knew that I had the same power as my boy counterparts. I used to challenge them in sports,” she said.

She participated in inter-school competitions in high jump and long jump till Class 10. “She was one of the energetic girls in our school. She gave her best shot in inter-school competitions,” said Surendran, her physical education teacher till Class 10 at the Islamic Academy Higher Secondary School in Vadakara in Kozhikode district.

She joined K Kunhirama Kurup Memorial Higher Secondary School near her home for Class XI and Class XII, where she continued to take part in competitions. “I shifted my focus to track events and won many titles in 100m hurdles in the inter-school competitions,” Bhanu said. “Hijab continued to be my companion then.”

Majizia Bhanu at a training session. Photo courtesy of Outlook magazine

Her focus shifted to power sports after she decided to study dental surgery. “It all started when I got a one-month break from college in December 2016,” she said.

Bhanu enrolled herself in a boxing training academy in Kozhikode, which is 50 km from her house. A couple of days later, her coach suggestedto her to pursue powerlifting. “He told me that my body movements were fit for powerlifting, so I began working out at the Jaya Gym in Kozhikode for two days in a week.”

Bhanu said bench press troubled her in the beginning, but she overcame it with regular training. “I also faced little trouble with squat and dead lifts,” she said.

A couple of months later she moved to Hamstring Fitness Centre near her home in Vadakara and began to train under Shammas Abdul Latheef.

“My performance has been improving by the day. Now I can lift a total of 425 kg, with 175 kg of squat, 160 kg of dead lift and 90 kg in bench press.”

Majizia Bhanu during a training session. Photo courtesy of Outlook magazine

Coach Latheef felt that Bhanu has the capacity to win more laurels. “She is a passionate sportswoman. She has made it a habit to visit the gym even on busy days. She works out almost every day and it shows in her results,” he said.

Financial support

Her participation in the World Arm wrestling Championship in Turkey was in doubt as she couldn’t pay Rs 5 lakh before June 10. “I would have missed the event had I not deposited the amount in my bank account before June 10. I had knocked many doors for help. Timely help from a group of well-wishers from Kerala and Dubai saved me,” she said.

She hopes that the difficult phase of her career is over with a Dubai-based company – Bronet Group – choosing her as the brand ambassador on Tuesday.

She had missed the World Classic Powerlifting Championship in Canada owing to paucity of funds.

“I don’t have a proper training facility or the support of nutrition expert and physiotherapist. Hope things will change from now on,” she said.

Bhanu said her family played a big role in moulding her sporting career. “I couldn’t have dreamed of these achievements without my family’s support,” she said.

Majizia Bhanu's family. Photo courtesy of Outlook magazine

Her father Abdul Majeed is a Karate exponent and her mother Raziya Majeed has always been her source of encouragement. Her younger brother Mohammed Nizamuddin is a budding choreographer.

“I am proud of my daughter’s achievement,” said her mother Raziya. “It is a good thing that she is winning medals without compromising her religious practices,” she added.

With 40 medals of various hues under her belt, Bhanu says she will never miss an opportunity to increase the tally.

She says she can fulfil her dream if powerlifting becomes an Olympic sport. If it doesn’t happen soon, she will not hesitate to take a plunge into weightlifting. “I can become a champion weightlifter by tweaking my techniques.”

But for the time being, Bhanu’s is fully focussing on the world championship. “I want to win the gold in Turkey.”

“I will put in my best efforts to return with the yellow metal,” she said.