A teenage Sri Lankan girl who switched from gymnastics for another physical sport, won four gold medals at a meet called the Asian Classic Equipped Bench Press and Power-lifting Championship held in Istanbul, Turkey.
Contesting the 47-kgs weight class, Shenuki Dishalya won the four gold medals to make both her country and school Bishop’s College proud.
She won gold medals in what is called the Dead-lift (105kgs), Bench Press (42kgs) and the Scott (85kgs) as well as the overall gold to become the youngest power-lifter from Sri Lanka to achieve the feat at the age of 18 against competitors from other 17 countries.
In the process Shenuki broke her own National record of 232 kgs.
Shenuki was an ex-diving champion at the Schools Age Group Swimming and Diving Championships in 2018.
But her big break came when she was training at gymnastics when a power-lifting coach Mothilal Jayatilleke spotted the potential in her.
Meanwhile Ransilu Jayatilleke, the son of Mothilal, won a gold and two bronze medals while Suren Perera won three gold medals and a silver in the Open men’s category at the Asian Classic Power-lifting championships conducted by the Turkey Power-lifting Association in collaboration with the Asian Power-lifting Federation.