Bhumika Sharma, India's first bodybuilder to win Miss World

Meet Bhumika Sharma, the 21-year-old woman who took the road less travelled and crossed all hurdles in her path to become the first Indian woman to win Miss World at the World Bodybuilding Championship in Venice.

Bhumika was competing against 50 women from various parts of the world. Now, without even taking the time to bask in her glory, she is focused on her next goal— winning the Miss Universe Championship to be held in December 2017. Talking about the experience of winning Miss World, she told The Hindustan Times,

“The Indian squad had 27 members. I was the lone woman bodybuilder. I gained enough points in all the three rounds and made the country proud.”

According to India Today, Bhumika is originally from Dehradun, Uttarakhand, though she now lives in New Delhi. She is the first and the only woman so far from the state to have made her mark in bodybuilding, both at the national and international levels.

She comes from a sporting family—her mother Hansa Manral Sharma is the head coach of the Indian women's weightlifting team. Yet, convincing her parents to let her take up bodybuilding was difficult as she was the only child in the family.

Until three years ago, Bhumika's interest lay in shooting and that was what her parents wanted her to pursue. A chance meeting with a bodybuilding coach piqued her interest in the sport. Though her parents were initially hesitant, they relented when they saw how passionate she was. Now, her mother even gives her tips from time to time.

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