'Sprinter Dadi' Strikes Again: 95-Year-Old Wins Three Gold Medals at World Athletics

Bhagwani Devi Dagar, a 95-year-old woman from India, has won three medals at the 9th World Athletics Indoor Championship 2023 held in Torun, Poland. Known as "Sprinter Dadi," Bhagwani Devi won gold medals in the 60-meter running, shotput, and discus throw. This follows her one gold and two silver medals at last year's competition in Finland. Bhagwani Devi, whose athletic career began at the age of 94, competed in the 95-99 age division in temperatures as low as minus seven degrees Celsius. She now has four international gold medals and aims to bring more glory to India at the Asian Masters Athletics Championship in the Philippines in November. Born in Haryana, Bhagwani Devi worked hard to sustain herself and her son after being widowed at a young age. Her son later became a clerk, and her grandson Vikas Dagar is a Khel Ratna Awardee and multiple record holder as a para-athlete.