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Who is Keyaa Banerji? Indian powerlifter who lifted three times her body weight to win silver at IPF Championships
Here's all you need to know about Keyaa Banerji, the powerlifter who recently won a silver medal at the IPF World Championships.
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A 140kg deadlift has turned the 21-year-old Indian powerlifter Keyaa Kunal Banerji into a household name, and the entire internet is going gaga over her skills. She produced the jaw-dropping effort at the 2026 IPF World Sub-Junior and Junior Classic Powerlifting Championships in Sun City, South Africa, where she won a silver medal in the individual deadlift event in the Junior Women's 47kg category.
The biggest highlight of her achievement was the difference between her body weight and the metal on the bar. Weighing just 45.70kg, she lifted more than three times her body weight, an effort that quickly became the highlight of her campaign and subsequently spread across social media.
But who is Keyaa Banerji?
Banerji is an Indian powerlifter competing in the Junior Women's 47kg division. Her performance in South Africa was built around a 280kg total, with her best lifts comprising a 90kg squat, a 50kg bench press, and a 140kg deadlift.
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Although she finished fifth overall in the 47kg junior competition, the deadlift proved to be her standout event. Her 140kg effort was enough to secure second place in the discipline.
France's Ines Herbaux topped the deadlift standings with 165kg, while Ireland's Blathnaid O'Dwyer also managed 140kg. Banerji finished ahead of O'Dwyer to take the silver medal.
At the 2025 National Championship, Banerji recorded an 82.5kg squat, a 47.5kg bench press and a 127.5kg deadlift, taking her total to 257.5kg. She then raised those numbers at the 2026 National Championship, lifting 95kg in the squat, 52.5kg in the bench press and 140kg in the deadlift, finishing with a 287.5kg total.
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Banerji was not the only Indian athlete to make an impact in South Africa. Madhura Kar emerged as one of the country's standout performers at the championships, producing a four-gold-medal performance in the Sub-Junior Women's 52kg category.
The powerlifter, who weighed 49.35kg, lifted 107.5kg in the squat, 60kg in the bench press and 125kg in the deadlift. Her combined total of 292.5kg helped her secure gold across all four disciplines.
Kar's latest success added to an impressive record despite her young age. A Class XII student from Jalpaiguri, she had already made her mark at the domestic level by winning the National Powerlifting Championship in 2024 and successfully defending the title in 2025. She also won the National Bench Press Championship in Faridabad earlier in 2026.
