Meet Karenjeet Kaur Bains: Britain’s first female Sikh powerlifter

Karenjeet says she lucky to have parents who are always encouraging her academic and athletic pursuits.

• Mohnish Singh
• 10 June, 2022

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By: Mohnish Singh

Whether you are a sports enthusiast or not, you might very well know Karenjeet Kaur Bains, Britain’s first female Sikh powerlifter. In case you do not know much about her, you have landed at the right place to know a thing or two about her and how she is encouraging more young women like her to take up the sport.

25-year-old Karenjeet started her sporting life as a sprinter, but when she took up powerlifting, a sport typically dominated by men, at the age of 17, her focus soon changed.

She still remembers walking into the arena for her first-ever powerlifting competition when she was 17 years old. Flanked by her twin brothers, the referee approached them and asked, “Are you two looking to compete today?” Her brothers did not waste a second and said, “No, it’s our sister.”

Karenjeet is now breaking into the senior circuit. She is continuing to add to her already impressive record: she placed in the top 10 at the World and European Championships, claimed her first international title, and became the 2019 Commonwealth Champion in the under 63-kilogram junior women’s class.

Most recently, she placed in the top two at the British Senior Bench Press Championships. Her best lifts in the competition include a 140 kg. squat, 82.5 kg. bench press and a 167.5 kg. deadlift.

In one of her previous interviews, Karenjeet said that one of the highlights of her powerlifting career was a gold medal in the junior division at the 2019 Commonwealth Powerlifting Championships.

Kranjeet’s family is British by nationality. Although, they hail from the Punjab space of India. Her father, Kuldip Singh Bains, was a powerlifter and bodybuilder who loves to teach his daughter.

When she’s not training, Karenjeet works as an accountant for KPMB in London and soon hopes to qualify as a chartered accountant.