What TV doesn't, print can't; we deliver.
What TV doesn't, print can't; we deliver.
BENGALURU: The 27-year-old weightlifter Mirabai Chanu on Saturday created a record by lifting a total of 201kg. She lifted 88kg in snatch and 113kg in clean and jerk to bag the first gold for India in the 2022 edition of the Commonwealth Games.
Hailing from East Imphal in Manipur, Chanu was drawn to weightlifting from an early age and won her first medal in a local weightlifting competition when she was just 11. Later Chanu, who idolises Kunjarani Devi, participated in the World and Asian Junior Championships where she did exceedingly well.
Chanu gained worldwide recognition when she stepped up and bagged a silver medal in the 48kg category at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow when she was 20. However, despite qualifying for the 2016 Rio Olympics, she came a cropper.
“I was really low after the Olympics. It took me a lot of time to get over the disappointment. I even thought of giving up the sport and stop training. The comments in social media, the criticism against my coach really hurt me,” she revealed in an interview.
However, the ace weightlifter sallied back with a vengeance when she became the first Indian in two decades to clinch a gold medal at the World Weightlifting Championship in Anaheim in 2017. She lifted a total of 194kg (85kg in snatch and 109kg in clean and jerk).
Following her spectacular feat, then Manipur chief minister Biren Singh felicitated her by presenting her with a cheque of ₹20 lakhs. In 2018, she was bestowed with the prestigious Padma Shri by the Indian government.
2018 was once again a low phase in her career as she couldn’t compete in any events throughout the year due to a lower-back injury.
But Chanu evinced her steely resolve when she recuperated and fetched the silver medal in the Women’s 49kg weightlifting event at the Tokyo Olympics, which remains the crowning glory of her coruscating career.
