New Delhi: Two minutes before she stepped onto the stage in a room full of men, 31-year-old Sonika Yadav murmured to herself: “Whatever happens, think about your baby. Nothing should go wrong.” The Delhi Police constable and kabaddi player-turned-powerlifter was in Andhra Pradesh for the All India Police Weightlifting Cluster 2025-26 carrying the weight of her own defiance. Yadav had ignored every command, request, and suggestion not to compete this year. On 17 October, when she stood with her palms pressed on the cold steel bar ready to lift 145 kg in deadlift, Yadav was seven months pregnant.
Images of foreign athletes who were pregnant lit the fire in her. Yadav first saw Egyptian fencer Nada Hafez on television in July 2024, who had competed in the Paris 2024 Olympics at seven months pregnant. “I thought to myself: ‘Can I ever do this?’,” she said. “They were pregnant. They won gold. If they can walk that path, why can’t I?”
Yadav is now back in Delhi with her bronze medal. At the event, she first lifted 125 kg in squats and 80 kg in bench press, and then in a twist, shifted her target. She was supposed to deadlift 135 kg, but she knew she wouldn’t win with that. So she went for 145 kg instead.
On Thursday, at the office of the Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) in Delhi’s Vidhan Sabha, as media persons gathered, Yadav stood in front of cameras, microphones, and busy faces. Despite the sweat and fatigue, she was excited to share her journey and how far she had come.
“I had to do it to inspire all women, to tell them that they need to take care of their body, and they can do anything they aim to achieve,” she said. “I thought I wouldn’t be able to do it, but then I reminded myself, of who I am, and then, I did it.”
During the training, she wasn’t nervous or stressed. But when she wore her uniform: A black T-shirt with Delhi Police emblem, and blue shorts, the pressure suddenly hit. It was a ‘make-or-break’ situation. With steady composure, Yadav stepped onto the platform, squeezed her belly in, took a breath, and lifted 145 kgs.
“I didn’t want pregnancy to be seen as a limitation,” she said.
On social media, where her videos have gone viral, reactions have been mixed—some cheering her audacity, others warning about the risks. Men’s comments range from “Women shouldn’t do this” to “Isn’t this reckless?” But women’s replies are instant applause: “You showed us what strength looks like.”
Sonika Yadav and Nada Hafez are not the only athletes to have challenged established beliefs. Around the world, women have been redefining the limits of pregnancy and risk in competitive sport. Azerbaijani archer Yaylagul Ramazanova competed at the 2024 Olympics when she was seven months pregnant. German skeleton racer, Diana Sartor took part in the 2006 Winter games at nine weeks pregnant. American middle distance runner, Alysia Montaño has raced while five months pregnant and at eight months. And in powerlifting, Lucie Martin squatted 180 kg, benched 105 kg, and dead lifted 205 kg at 30 weeks.
Yadav did her research. It was Martin who inspired her to squeeze her belly in, and then lift.
Also read: Make women pregnant, get rich—Bihar’s cyber scam goes to a whole new level
Tough choices
At 31, Yadav looks clear, composed, and charged. Carrying the legacy of her mother’s ambition.
“Both my daughters need to join the police,” her mother used to tell her. While her father focused on sports and adventure. Yadav and her sister Monika (33), had their path laid out for them. The duo joined Delhi Police in 2014. Yadav is now in the north and Monika is in the northwest district of Delhi Police.
Sports has been a part of Yadav’s routine for as long as she can remember. Living near the Indira Gandhi Stadium, she and his sister signed up for the sports camp and picked up gymnastics at a young age. In the very first year of competing, they both grabbed state medals, and then moved to nationals. While Monika stuck to gymnastics, Yadav moved to Kabaddi. From grade six to twelfth, she represented her school.
In 2014, she joined the Delhi Police. She got married in 2016, and in 2017 had her first child. Yadav took a brief pause that year, to take care of her newborn. “I was worried. I missed sports, the field, my team, my players, and most importantly, my jersey. This comfort was very new to me, and I could not rest. I had to move,” she said.
Yadav decided to make the shift in 2019. She signed up for the Delhi Police sports team. She joined the women’s kabaddi squad representing the force in 2019 and 2022.
“Insan sports ko chhod sakta hai, lekin sports insan ko nahi chhod sakta (A person can leave sport, but sport never leaves the person.),” she said, quietly.
But by 2023, she realised she wanted to fight an individual battle. It was difficult to manage a team game now, with a child in her hand. That’s when she found powerlifting.
Acceptance wasn’t instant.
“As a married woman, in our Indian families, the bahu isn’t allowed to rebel,” she said. “My family told me I was running against the tide because according to the Indian mindset, it’s time now to concentrate on your children and family,” she added.
“They told me sports arenas are meant for children, and not grown up women like me.”
But her mother would come along to practice, while her kid sat in a pram. “From no support in the beginning, slowly, things started to change. My in-laws started to support me. I was their ‘ziddi’ daughter-in-law, and I wasn’t taking a no for an answer,” she said.
Then one day in May, she found out she was pregnant. Her family thought she would take a break. But Yadav was determined. And when she learned about the tournament in August, she announced she was going to compete.
The response to her decision was quick and curt. “Competition will come next year, go then,” her family and police department told her.
Doctors, too, told her to be cautious. Pregnancy changes the body. They told her to not push her limits and exert her body. In a competition, when the limit is 100 kg, the contender strives for 105 kg for the third lift.
The doctors advised her to lift less than her usual capacity. Her usual maximum capacity is 165-170 kg, she limited herself to 145 kg at the competition. “I made this decision thoughtfully and under medical guidance,” she said.
Then, came the stage. The crowd. The lights. The whistles.
Also read: An email from an AIIMS doctor changed India’s abortion debate. Heartbeat the new flashpoint
Long journey to bronze
In the second battalion of Delhi Police, there is a sports branch. This posting allows athletes practice time. In 2019, Yadav secured a temporary attachment to this branch. She would often go to the gym before duty, come home, freshen up, and then set off for an eight hour shift. And then still be a mother when she got back.
“I’d see my son off to school. Then sneak out to my local gym to train. Then, home to complete the chores. Then, my duty. Then, dinner with my son,” she said.
At 5 am, every day, Yadav’s local gym is hers alone. No spectators, no distractions, just her challenges. Yadav also trains students in self defence for Delhi Police.
Sunday routines are simple. She colours with her son. His giggles fill the space. Saturday nights are also fun. There’s no work, no gym, and no school to go to the next day.
But from everything that has happened in her journey so far, she has a standout moment. And it’s not her winning lift. It’s a conversation she had with an assistant sub-Inspector in Andhra Pradesh Police. After her lift, he came to her, and in his broken Hindi, told her she performed well.
“He told me, we’ve seen famous Indian fighters like Jhansi ki Rani, who carried their son on her back. But I carried a child inside of me, so I am no less than a fighter myself,” Yadav said, with pride.
“How will I ever forget that?”
(Edited by Theres Sudeep)