Indian weightlifter Mirabai Chanu opened India’s gold medal account as she won the first Gold Medal for the country at the Commonwealth Games 2022 in the Women’s 49Kg weightlifting category. The star weightlifter forayed into the competition in the 49kg category after all the other participants had finished their respective Snatch and Clean & Jerk lifts.
She collected a total of 201kg (88kg+113kg) to make her mark in the competition. In the process she also created a Commonwealth Games record. The silver was won by Mauritius’ Marie Hanitra Roilya Ranaivosoa (172kg) followed by Canada’s Hannah Kaminski (171 kg) who won the bronze.
But Mirabai’strue competition was with herself. Her best Snatch of 88kg was 12kg better than the next best. In terms of C&J her best lift of 113kg was 16kgs better than the next best.
Reacting on her victory Mirabai told the media, “I had said earlier that I was competing with myself here. Everyone knows the Commonwealth Games is easy for me, but I never took it lightly. There is pressure of having things easy as well. I know what areas to improve on going forward.
She further mentioned that her next goal is the World Championships in December and Paris Olympics in 2024. “My target at the World Championships is to match my [world] record in Clean and Jerk [119kg],” said Mirabai. She was a crowd favorite at the NEC Arena. The reception she got from the fans was reminiscent of Mary Kom or Vijender Singh. “Every athlete wants the crowd to back them and roar for them and I was pleasantly surprised to see such a huge Indian presence in Birmingham,” added Mirabai.
