Sonika Yadav, a 31-year-old kabaddi player turned powerlifter, and a constable secured a bronze medal at the All India Police
Weightlifting Cluster 2025-26 carrying the weight of her own defiance. Sonika Yadav 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.
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