Karenjeet Kaur Bains (born 23 July 1996) is a British

powerlifter Powerlifting is a competitive strength sport that consists of three attempts at maximal weight on three lifts: squat, bench press, and deadlift. As in the sport of Olympic weightlifting, it involves the athlete attempting a maximal weight singl ...

, former

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

athlete and television personality known for appearing on the television show ''

Gladiators A gladiator ( , ) was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gladiators were volunteers who risked their ...

'' as "Athena". She has won the Commonwealth Powerlifting Championships junior title and became the first British Sikh woman to represent her country at both the European and World championships. Her first senior event was the World Classic Bench Press Championships in Vilnius, Lithuania.

Early life

Karenjeet Kaur Bains was born 23 July 1996 in

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...

, England, to

Sikh Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Si ...

parents from

Punjab, India Punjab () is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. Forming part of the larger Punjab, Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, the state is bordered by the States and union territories of India, Indian states ...

. Her mother came from a family of wrestlers and her father was a former

bodybuilder Bodybuilding is the practice of progressive resistance exercise to build, control, and develop one's muscles via hypertrophy. An individual who engages in this activity is referred to as a bodybuilder. It is primarily undertaken for aesthetic ...

and

. She attended Myton School, where she was a champion

athlete, racing in the

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at ...

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400-metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slight ...

and

300 metres The 300 metres is an uncommon (meaning not on an Olympic or World Championship program) sprinting event in track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contes ...

, and

Hammer throw The hammer throw (HT for short) is one of the four throwing events in regular outdoor track-and-field competitions, along with the discus throw, shot put and Javelin throw, javelin. The hammer used in this sport is not like any of the tools a ...

. She earned the nickname "Bullet Bains" at school due to her speed. Her older twin brothers were also athletes, competing nationally in the

400 metres hurdles The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Summer Olympics, Olympic Sport of athletics, athletics programme since 1900 Summer Olympics, 1900 for men and since 1984 Summer Olympics, 1984 for women. On a ...

. Bains started to train with weights in order to increase her sprinting power, then found she enjoyed

powerlifting Powerlifting is a competitive strength athletics, strength sport that consists of three attempts at maximal weight on three lifts: Squat (exercise), squat, bench press, and deadlift. As in the sport of Olympic weightlifting, it involves the athle ...

in its own right. She used the gym at her family home and her father coached her in the exercises of squat,

bench press The bench press or chest press is a weight training exercise where a person presses a weight upwards while lying horizontally on a weight training bench. The bench press is a Compound movements, compound movement, with the primary muscles involved ...

and

deadlift The deadlift is a strength training exercise in which a weight-loaded barbell is lifted off the ground to the level of the hips, with the torso perpendicular to the floor, before being placed back on the ground. It is one of the three powerlifting ...

; after three months of training, she won her first competition. She attended

Durham University Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...

, where she gained a degree in

accounting Accounting, also known as accountancy, is the process of recording and processing information about economic entity, economic entities, such as businesses and corporations. Accounting measures the results of an organization's economic activit ...

. She then worked in

audit An audit is an "independent examination of financial information of any entity, whether profit oriented or not, irrespective of its size or legal form when such an examination is conducted with a view to express an opinion thereon." Auditing al ...

KPMG KPMG is a multinational professional services network, based in London, United Kingdom. As one of the Big Four accounting firms, along with Ernst & Young (EY), Deloitte, and PwC. KPMG is a network of firms in 145 countries with 275,288 emplo ...

Career

Whilst at university, Bains took the British and English powerlifting titles and won the British Universities powerlifting in the junior women's 63 kg category. At the age of 19, she injured her

piriformis The piriformis muscle () is a flat, pyramidally-shaped muscle in the gluteal region of the lower limbs. It is one of the six muscles in the lateral rotator group. The piriformis muscle has its origin upon the front surface of the sacrum, and in ...

muscle in her left

buttock The buttocks (: buttock) are two rounded portions of the exterior anatomy of most mammals, located on the posterior of the pelvic region. In humans, the buttocks are located between the lower back and the perineum. They are composed of a laye ...

and it took two years to recover her strength. She then won the Commonwealth Powerlifting Championships junior title and became the first British Sikh woman to represent her country at both the European and World championships. Her first senior event was at the World Classic Bench Press Championships in Vilnius, Lithuania and she came sixth. After six years working for KPMG, Bains switched to working for a small arts company in 2022 and also put her name to an online training app. In 2024, Bains began to appear on the television show ''

'' as Athena. Despite being only 5 ft 4in tall, one of the all-time shortest Gladiators, she has been training up to 6 times a week, to maintain her physique for the show. In 2024, she appeared on the quiz show ''

The Weakest Link ''Weakest Link'' (also known as ''The Weakest Link'') is a television game show which The Weakest Link (British game show), first appeared in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 14 August 2000 and originally ended on 31 March 2012 when its host ...

'' alongside fellow Gladiators such as

Giant In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: ''wiktionary:gigas, gigas'', cognate wiktionary:giga-, giga-) are beings of humanoid appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''gia ...

and

Sabre A sabre or saber ( ) is a type of backsword with a curved blade associated with the light cavalry of the Early Modern warfare, early modern and Napoleonic period, Napoleonic periods. Originally associated with Central European cavalry such a ...

. She was the featured in an episode of the second series of the BBC TV series '' Extraordinary Portraits'', where her portrait was painted by Amar Stewart.

References

External links

Open Powerlifting statistics

Personal website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bains, Karenjeet Kaur Living people 1996 births British female powerlifters English Sikhs Sportspeople from Warwickshire KPMG people British women accountants British auditors British female hammer throwers English female hammer throwers English female sprinters British female sprinters 21st-century English sportswomen