The Fit Folk
Every person we feature, in one place — public creators we cover editorially and everyday people who share their stories with consent. Real people, real places.
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Tripat Singh — Started lifting at 62. Virat Kohli calls him an inspiration.
Diksha Chhabra — PCOD, thyroid, 100+kg post-pregnancy — answered with a barbell.
All the folk
- India
Anupriya Kapur
Single mother and former corporate worker who took up running in 2009 and documented using it to overcome postpartum depression on her blog Mom on the Run — later averaging 100+ km a month and founding the personal-care brand Imbue.
- Ambedkar Nagar, Uttar Pradesh, India
Arunima Sinha
Arunima Sinha, a former national-level volleyball player from Ambedkar Nagar, Uttar Pradesh, was thrown from a moving train in 2011 by robbers after resisting a gold-chain theft, resulting in the amputation of her left leg below the knee. She trained under Bachendri Pal, the first Indian woman to climb Everest, at the Tata Steel Adventure Foundation, and on May 21, 2013, became the first female amputee in the world to summit Mount Everest after a 52-day climb. She was awarded the Padma Shri, India's fourth-highest civilian honor, in 2015, and went on to climb other peaks including Mt. Kilimanjaro, Mt. Elbrus, and Mt. Kosciuszko as part of the Seven Summits challenge.
- Jaipur, India
Avani Lekhara
Avani Lekhara is an Indian Paralympic rifle shooter from Jaipur who became the first Indian woman to win a Paralympic gold medal, topping the women's 10m air rifle standing SH1 at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics with a Paralympic-record, world-record-equaling score of 249.6, and also took bronze in the 50m rifle 3 positions SH1 at those Games. She defended her 10m air rifle SH1 title at the Paris 2024 Paralympics, becoming the first Indian woman to win two Paralympic gold medals. A wheelchair user since a car accident in 2012 left her paralyzed below the waist, she trains at the JDA Shooting Range in Jaipur and works as an Assistant Conservator of Forests in Rajasthan.
- Mumbai, India
Bani J (Gurbani Judge)
Bani J, born Gurbani Judge on 29 November 1987 in Chandigarh, India, built a public profile first as an MTV Roadies contestant and host before becoming first runner-up on Bigg Boss 10, and has since been recognized as an Indian fitness model known for her muscular physique and advocacy for women's strength training.
- Mogliano Veneto, Italy
Beatrice Vio
Beatrice Maria Vio Grandis, known as Bebe Vio, is an Italian wheelchair fencer born 4 March 1997 in Venice and raised in Mogliano Veneto, who lost her limbs to a severe childhood meningitis infection and went on to become European champion in 2014 and 2016, World champion in 2015 and 2017, and Paralympic champion in the foil B category at both the 2016 and 2020 Games.
- Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India
Bhavina Patel
Bhavinaben Hasmukhbhai Patel, known publicly as Bhavina Patel, is a wheelchair table tennis player competing in the women's singles Class 4 category who became the first Indian table tennis player to win a Paralympic medal, taking silver at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, and later added a bronze at the 2023 Asian Para Games.
- India
Deepa Malik
India's first woman to win a Paralympic medal — silver in F53 shot put at Rio 2016. Paraplegic after spinal tumour surgeries; Padma Shri and Khel Ratna awardee; former President of the Paralympic Committee of India.
- Pune
Deepika Chowdhury
Molecular biologist (formerly at the National Institute of Virology) who joined a gym in 2012 and in 2016 became the first Indian woman to earn IFBB Pro status, as a Figure athlete.
- Churu, Rajasthan, India
Devendra Jhajharia
Devendra Jhajharia is an Indian Paralympic javelin thrower, born 10 June 1981 in Churu, Rajasthan, who lost his left arm at age eight after accidentally touching a live electric cable while climbing a tree. He became the first Indian Paralympian to win two Paralympic gold medals, with javelin (F44/46) golds at the 2004 Athens Games and the 2016 Rio Games, followed by a silver medal in javelin F46 at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics. He has been honoured with the Arjuna Award (2004), Padma Shri (2012), Khel Ratna (2017), and the Padma Bhushan (2022) — becoming the first para-athlete to receive the latter, India's third-highest civilian award, conferred by President Ram Nath Kovind on 21 March 2022. In an exclusive interview with India Today, Jhajharia recalled being told as a child, after the accident that led to his arm being amputated, that he 'would be better off dead.' He has served as President of the Paralympic Committee of India since 9 March 2024.
