73-year-old banker, heart surgey surviver achieves medals in powerlifting

Hyderabad, Sep 14 (PTI) Defying age, a septuagenarian banker in Telangana, despite undergoing heart bypass surgery, has achieved four gold medals in a recent National Powerlifting Championship, sending out a message that discipline, mental strength, and determination can overcome all odds.

D V Shankar Rao (73) from the temple town of Bhadrachalam is said to be the first-ever participant in the country with a history of heart bypass surgery to compete in the National Powerlifting Championships and emerge victorious.

Held at Kozhikode in Kerala last month, and organised under the auspices of Powerlifting India, the championship saw Rao, who retired as an officer from SBI, competing in the Master-4, 83 kg category, where he bagged the medals.

Rao's achievement became special as he bagged the honours just six months after he began practicing for powerlifting.

"I go for a morning walk and do yoga every day. A friend, who used to meet in the walk, encouraged me to take up training at a gym and participate in competitions in view of my physique. I was initially hesitant as I underwent heart bypass surgery," Rao told PTI on Sunday.

Rao, who underwent bypass surgery in 2012, had started training for powerlifting in February this year.

He said some doctors who also visit the gym told him that he can go ahead with powerlifting with a caution that he should stop training if he experiences shortness of breath or uneasiness.

Though his family members and a family doctor raised apprehensions about him taking up powerlifting as he is a heart bypass survivor, other doctors told him that his body is facilitating the training.

Rao said he did not experience any problem during the powerlifting training.

Rao initially won powerlifting competitions at the district and state level and subsequently qualified for national level events.

A doctor, who is a regular to the gym, trained him for national level competition after he qualified to compete in the event.

"It may not be a record by me to win a sports competition at the age of 73. However, I was the first person in the country with a history of heart bypass surgery to achieve the gold medals in a national level powerlifting event," Rao said.

"It is also a record of sorts that I won the national level competition in powerlifting just six months after initiating basic training in the sport," he added.

Though Powerlifting India invited him to participate in the world championship in South Africa and Asian championship in Turkiye, to be held in October and December respectively, he had only a couple of days time to apply for participation in the world events where he had to pay about Rs five to Rs eight lakh, Rao said.

He said he could not apply for the international championships as he had no financial strength to make the payment immediately.

He said he is keen on participating in world events if he gets support from either the government or any non-governmental organisations.

Rao attributes his success in powerlifting to his long-held habit of morning walk and yoga. PTI SJR GDK SJR KH