Harjit Singh Aujla is a Punjabi weightlifters who recently won a gold medal in men's 105kg weightlifting at the North QLD Powerlifting Competition held at Cairns, QLD on 01 July, 2017.
Aujla belongs to Mothada Kalan, Dist Jalandhar in Punjab.
In the last seven years of powerlifting, Aujla has bagged five gold medals in various competitions.
“I have a passion for powerlifting. Before coming to Australia, I had nine gold medals from national championships held in India. I have added five more to this tally from Australian competitions,” said Mr Aujla in an interview with SBS Punjabi.
With this recent achievement, he has also qualified for Australian National Powerlifting Competition to be held in Melbourne in October 2017.
Parvinder Singh Buttar is another passionate Indian-origin weightlifter.
Buttar bagged gold medal in 85kg weight category at the North QLD Powerlifting Competition.
Buttar looked supremely confident throughout, though he said he was not as sure as he would win a gold medal.
“It was a tough competition. I wasn’t sure of my victory until my friends congratulated me,” said Mr Buttar.
“I am from Ganganagar, Rajasthan. This is my third year in powerlifting. I started competing at professional level with an inspiration from Harjit Aujla.”
Hardeep Gill took a silver medal at the Cairns competition. He told SBS Punjabi that he had a passion for gym activities before perusing weightlifting at a competition level.
"We are friends, we motivate each other. Harjeet Aujla is a big inspiration. He is five time gold medalist. He is the one who is leading us from the front.”
Gill hails from a village near Jagraon in Punjab.
Sukhjinder Singh Warring is perusing powerlifting from 2013. He won a silver medal in 120kg weight category.
“The biggest challenge is time management. As a migrant you have to work hard for your family. But if you have a passion, you’ll surely find some time,” said Mr Warring.
"Aujla has already qualified for the national championship. But we all three need to raise our level to compete at the Townsville completion before making a claim at the national level.”
Warring migrated to Australia from village Golewala in Dist Faridkot, Punjab.
Here is the final standing at the North QLD Powerlifting Competition 2017
| NAME | WEIGHT CLASS | RANK/PLACE | SQUAT | BENCH PRESS | DEAD-LIFTS | TOTAL |
| HARJIT SINGH AUJLA | 105 kg | 1st | 270 kg | 205 kg | 262 kg | 737 kg |
| HARDEEP GILL | 105 kg | 2nd | 250 kg | 150 kg | 220 kg | 620 kg |
| PARVINDER SINGH ( BUTTAR) | 83 kg | 1st | 205 kg | 150 kg | 250 kg | 605 kg |
| SUKHJINDER SINGH WARRING | 120 kg | 2nd | 185 kg | 185 kg |
