Pushing the boundaries for sportswomen

Young weightlifter Shenuki Dishalya who won gold recently at the Asian Pacific Championships shares her journey with the Mirror Magazine

19-year-old Shenuki Dishalya did not expect to bring home four Golds after her first- ever international competition for weightlifting but she couldn’t be happier and prouder of her achievements especially after training so rigorously for the Asian Classic Equipped Bench P ress and Powe r - l i f t i n g Championship held in Istanbul, Turkey.

A product of Bishop’s College, Colombo, Shenuki is the middle child in a supportive family of five with her father being a journalist and mother, an author. She began powerlifting at 17 years of age after her current coach, Ransilu Jayathilake introduced and trained her in the sport after meeting Shenuki at CrossFit Colombo.

“What inspired me the most was watching the other girls who were world-class lifters maxing out their lifts and it made me realize how strong girls can get. Powerlifting is very addictive and it has helped me a lot to keep going on without giving up. My first competition was a trial for the Asian Pacific Championships and then I competed at the nationals in December last year and broke the Sri Lankan record in the 47 kg category which has been a huge source of motivation,” she shares with us.

Her first international competition for powerlifting was a monumental experience, says adding that one of her concerns during the competition was how she could manage the cold weather and how her muscles would respond along with her training methodologies. However, by witnessing other competitors, seeing them train, warmup and more, Shenuki was able to adapt slowly and surely. With her

tenacity and dedication to training, she was able to bring home four gold medals.

She won gold medals in the 47kgs weight class, in the deadlift ( 105kgs), bench press ( 42kgs) and the Squat (85kgs) categories as well as the overall gold to become the youngest powerlifter from Sri Lanka achieving this at the mere age of 18 against competitors from 17 other countries.

“For Asians, I trained hard for a few months and I’ve been following a diet according to my weight category because I have to maintain my weight and also keep up the strength so it’s not easy. For athletes, nutrients and food play a big role in their sport,” she adds advising anyone who is to start a sport, they should begin with gymnastics

because it teaches a lot of the basics.

Shenuki is not only an accomplished powerlifter but she is involved in gymnastics and diving as well. She is very grateful to her three coaches, having drawn support from them all. Her coach for gymnastics, Tharindu Perera she says, always reminded her not to think too much and to accept challenges, while her diving coach, Chanaka Wickramasinghe taught her to focus and compete well no matter what the situation around her was.

“As a sportswoman, you need to balance many things in life. When I was a gymnast I started my training at 3 a. m. and I’d rush after school to the gymnasium and train until 10.30 p. m. and do my homework till midnight. I also needed my sleep to recover. It’s not always easy but when you aim high you have to work hard. It is hard and you need to sacrifice a lot. You can’t always hang out with your friends and eat whatever you like. Sometimes it’s sad but the happiness you get after winning, you can’t just get it from anything else,” she says giving us a glimpse of the challenges of being a young sports woman.

Inspired by athletes like Mohammed Ali and Usain Bolt, Shenuki says she tries her best to incorporate their good qualities into her life, especially the humbleness they carried throughout their sporting careers.

Shenuki already knows that she wants to be a professional powerlifting athlete and is ready to put in the hard work to succeed in this journey. Already training hard for her next competition, she is aiming to bring a world medal to Sri Lanka.