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Shivani Agarwalla: Mother And CA, Becomes First Woman To Win Kettlebell WC

Although competitive kettlebell lifting has a long history in Russia and Eastern Europe, the sport of kettlebell lifting only emerged as an organised, mainstream activity in the 1960s.

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Chokita Paul
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Shivani Agarwalla
Hailing from Kolkata, kettlebell athlete, practising Chartered Accountant and mother to a seven-year-old Shivani Agarwalla started lifting bells in 2016 and has not stopped ever since then. A kettlebell athlete who has had the fortune of representing India, Shivani got her fourth gold in Greece at the International Gira Sport Federation (IGSF) World Championship 2022. 
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In recent years, Gira sports have gained widespread popularity in numerous nations in Europe, the Middle East, Australia, Asia, North and South America and Africa. The scientific-practical conferences devoted to the resolution of issues that arise in the course of preparing sportsmen, to the specification of rules of carrying out competitions, and other questions expressly or by implication concerning Gira sports attest to the importance of weights causing not only practical but also scientific interest in a kind of its many-sided nature and availability.

Shivani Agarwalla Wins Kettlebell WC

Speaking to SheThePeople, Shivani shared she, given that she has bagged the gold on three occasions before - Uzbekistan in 2018, Australia in 2019 and France in 2021, will cherish the honour for years to come. What was more important to her was being India’s first woman athlete to get an MS, Master's degree in Sports. As a world ranking, it was proof that Shivani has attained a certain level of proficiency in the kettlebell lifting sport. To her, all of it was a surreal experience. “When you hold the national flag around you with the national anthem playing in the background, it definitely gives you goosebumps,” she says, adding, “More than the gold, I was happy about the MS this time.” 

“When you hold the national flag around you with the national anthem playing in the background, it definitely gives you goosebumps.”

Is Gender A Barrier?

Being a woman or a man does not make any difference to Shivani in terms of focusing on her goal and career. However, there are differences and instances when the dynamics change. Being a mother in a nuclear setup, where most of the time, it is just her son and herself as her husband has to travel abroad for work, it takes a village to raise her child, says Shivani. “I can’t deny that my husband has a huge contribution to where I am and also in the father that he is to our son because he does the planning and thinking whereas I am the one who executes, as a team, we work very well,” she says. However, even then, it takes a toll - pending work, meetings at the GST council in which she specialises, Shivani cannot recall getting a window even on weekends to spend time with her son. But planning and strategising are her currency. 

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Opening to us about the challenges she encountered her way, Shivani recalls rising above them all. Her argument was, that one never fails - they either learn or they win. “There have been instances when I wanted to give it up all with no reason for me to continue.” That was when she felt the importance of her mentor’s presence throughout her journey. Her coach, Arnav Sarkar, always stood rock-solid and she always believed in the saying, “You make a life by what you give.” Her mentor did exactly that. “They help you see a higher side of you which perhaps you would not have seen,” Shivani says. Recalling her days as an obese child, Shivani, although being good at academics, was never sought after when it came to sports. “Unfortunately, back in those days, even the educational institutions believed in pushing only the lot - those who were good at something. We were never even asked if we would like to participate,” she adds. Recalling that she has not participated in anything other than march past when it came to sports events at school, Shivani’s representation of the country in this field won the hearts of all. 


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Kettlebell sport lifting, also known as girya, is a time-limited activity that involves repetitive weightlifting with kettlebells. Although competitive kettlebell lifting has a long history in Russia and Eastern Europe, the sport of kettlebell lifting only emerged as an organised, mainstream activity in the 1960s.

Shivani Agarwalla
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