A dilapidated brick structure stands out amidst the wild bushes and overgrown trees. A lone cow moos at a cowshed right. A giant tricolour hangs on the wall at the porch, where five young women and men are pumping iron. The ‘platform’ on which they stand is uneven, the barbells and the metal plates have turned rusty and stained, torn cloths are tied to the roof to shield them from sun and rain.
Nothing really gives an impression that champions can be produced at this unassuming facility in Deulpur, roughly an hour from Kolkata. But this is where Achinta Sheuli – a junior world championship medallist, and national record holder who won India’s third gold medal at the Commonwealth Games on Sunday with a Games Record of 313kg (143kg in snatch, 170kg in clean and jerk) – began his journey.
“When I first saw Achinta, he was very thin and did not have the appearance of a weightlifter at all,” says Sheuli’s childhood coach Astam Das, who lives at this makeshift gym. “But he had speed which is very important for an athlete in any game.”
Exactly a decade ago, Sheuli walked into this makeshift facility for the first time, following the footsteps of his elder brother Alok. “We were preparing for the Nationals when in 2013 our father passed away and our financial condition deteriorated,” Alok says. “I was in the second year of college when this happened and the responsibility to be the bread earner of my family fell on my shoulders, so I had to leave college.”
It started, however, with Alok watching a bodybuilding completion, getting fascinated by it, and ‘wanting to do something along those lines. So, Purnima took her elder son to a gym run that Das ran. A couple of years later, Sheuli joined his brother.
“He was the one who took Achinta and me under his wings,” Alok says, referring to Das, a former national-level weightlifter who retired prematurely due to a back injury. “He used to train us for free. He is so dedicated to his craft, he even left a BSF job for it.”
After leaving BSF, Das never took up a full-time job, fearing it would eat into his coaching time. Sheuli, he says, was frail and underweight when he first came to him a decade ago. “(But) One of the things that made him stand out is his hunger for the game. He does not give up easily,” Days says. “I had so many players who were better than him from a physical standpoint but he was the one who reached for the stars due to his never-say-die attitude.”
With the family having very limited resources, Das stepped in and supported Sheuli with lifting gear as well as providing nutritious food. “He used to train very hard but due to their financial condition, it was hard for him to maintain a proper diet. I used to tell him to slow down and have proper food or else he would fall sick. Then he went to the Army institute and got the necessary support,” Das adds.
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