Keyaa Banerji lifted 140 kg and went viral. Then came the thousands of AI photos, fake accounts and online abuse – Why I created a new Instagram account | More sports news

Indian weightlifting sensation Kia Kunal Banerjee’s 140kg lift was meant to be a moment of sporting celebration. Instead, the widespread attention surrounding her silver-medal-winning performance at the 2026 IPF World Sub-Junior & Junior Classic Powerlifting Championships has exposed her to a very disturbing side of online fame.The 21-year-old weightlifter revealed she faced sexual harassment, impersonation, conversations about her race, lineage and caste, and what she described as thousands of images generated by artificial intelligence using manipulated versions of her face and body.Banerjee spoke about her experience through a series of Instagram stories, explaining why she created a new account after her previous profile was suspended. She explained that her decision was not an attempt to chase followers or turn herself into a social media personality, but rather to regain control of her athletic identity and story.

“I recently won a silver medal at the IPF Jr Worlds for India, and while I appreciate the support and appreciation, as an Indian athlete, I have also had to deal with online sexual harassment, accounts impersonating me and disturbing conversations surrounding my ethnicity, ancestry and caste?”But it seemed to be the scale and nature of the AI ​​manipulation that bothered her the most.“And the worst are the thousands of people who have created images of me with photos of my body and face that have been morphed and edited in extremely disturbing ways, and it is disturbing to wake up every day to my feeds (and the feeds of everyone I know) filled with these fake photos,” Banerjee wrote.

From a 140kg celebration to an unwanted online spotlight

Banerjee competed in the junior women’s 47kg category at the tournament held in Sun City, South Africa. Her 140kg deadlift earned her a silver medal in the individual event, behind France’s Ines Herbaud, who lifted 165kg. Irishman Blathnaid O’Dwyer also lifted 140kg.Banerjee finished fifth in her category after recording a 90kg squat and 50kg bench press for a total of 280kg. Her deadlift was more than three times her competitor’s bodyweight of 45.70kg, which helped make the lift an instant eye-catcher for social media audiences.The lift video spread beyond the traditional weightlifting community, with users celebrating the young Indian athlete’s strength and achievements.But attention soon became something Banerjee never sought.

“I’ve always been a private person, and if you know me in any capacity or follow my old account, you’ll know that I never post pictures on it! It got even more stressful when Instagram suspended my old account (a private account with 300 followers), and then I created this new account.”She said she initially wanted to keep the new account private as well, but felt she had no choice if she actually wanted to establish her online identity.“I didn’t want to announce it but I was left with no choice if I wanted to have a say in a story about my sport and my accomplishments and stand up for myself without having my account suspended again!”The decision put Banerjee in the unusual position of becoming more visible online precisely because she wanted to regain control over the way she was portrayed.

“I just want to be a girl who likes to lift weights.”

For Banerjee, the sudden fame also doesn’t match what weightlifting means to her.“The purpose of my sport in my life is just to challenge myself in a fun way and I’m grateful that I’m competing at the level I’m at now. I never wanted to see myself everywhere like that, in fact, I really hated all these stickers that came out without my consent. At first, I just wanted to share this accomplishment with my close friends and family.”She stressed that her new account was not created with the goal of becoming an influencer or monetizing the attention generated by her performances.“I have no monetization goals with this account/no content creation goals at all, I just want to start over with this account and clear out which ones are mine so Instagram doesn’t take my voice away again!”Instead, she wants people who are genuinely interested in her athletic journey to follow the account she controls and avoid amplifying fake versions of her.“Thanks for reading, it would be really helpful if you all could follow this account if you’re interested and redirect people who search for my account to this page because I’d rather share real pictures of myself and my experience than have you guys look at these edits.”The sudden shift from being a private social media user to having a public profile made her understandably uncomfortable.“It still makes me uncomfortable to suddenly have a public account as someone who barely uses any social media, but I’d rather take half-hearted steps toward standing up for myself and having an opinion on a story about me than reading different versions of it every day.”Banerjee also made it clear that she was still willing to talk about the World Championships and her experience in South Africa, but asked people to treat her content more sensitively.“If you’re curious to learn more about Worlds and my experience, I’d be happy to share it, please do so in a way that’s considerate of my mental health!”

“Girl who likes to lift weights,” is not an Internet photo

The weightlifter posts have returned time and again to one central point: she wants her athletic identity to remain her own.“I really want to reflect more publicity around this and I can’t care less about the number of followers etc, I just want a space where I can exist as a girl who loves to lift weights and not an image that has been deconstructed over and over again which seems inauthentic to me.”This distinction is at the core of Banerjee’s experience. Her 140kg deadlift gave her a moment she could truly celebrate, but the viral response turned her sporting achievement into a source of unwanted scrutiny.She later admitted how much attention was beginning to affect her ability to enjoy what should have been one of the biggest accomplishments of her young career.“So much attention was overwhelming and in ways that left him overcome with the joy and whimsy that comes with a big win!”Her 140kg lift was not an isolated accomplishment. Banerjee’s numbers have been steadily improving, as he lifted 127.5kg at the 2025 National Championships and 140kg at the 2026 National Championships before matching that number on the world stage.Her performance in South Africa therefore represents another step in her budding weightlifting career. However, the viral nature of lifting brought a different kind of challenge, one she neither trained for nor asked for.