Mirabai Chanu has etched her name in history by becoming the first ever Indian to win an Olympic silver medal in weight lifting.
Mirabai Chanu may have failed in her last clean and jerk lift of 117 kg, but even in the disappointment, Chanu had the biggest smile on her face on Saturday. The 26-year-old from Manipur, a record holder in clean and jerk, finally redeemed herself and handed India its first medal of the Tokyo Olympics 2020 by winning a historic weightlifting silver.
It was five years ago that she experienced how the pressure of the Olympics can bog you down no matter how much you prepare for it. At the Rio Games, she was not only expected to put up a credible show but also bring home a medal. The then 21-year-old Chanu could only lift once out of her six attempts in the 48 kg category and became one of the two lifters in a field of 12 to have not finished her event.Fast forward to 2021 and Chanu started as one of the strong medal contenders in her event and started strong, setting the pace with lifts of 84 and 87. In clean and jerk she went past 110 and 115 with ease. And with a total lift of 202 kg, she etched her name in history.
Here’s everything you need to know about the superstar
Full Name: Miss Saikhom Mirabai Chanu
Father’s Name : Shri Saikhom Kriti Meetei
Date of Birth: 01.03.1994 4.
Educational Qualification: BA (Graduate)
Appointment : 31.08.2015 as Sr.Ticket Collector, under Lumding Division/NFR
Present Designation : OSD (Sports) under PCPO since April 2018
Event: Weightlifting
Weight category: 49kg
Family: Mother, Father, two brothers & three sisters
Major Achievements
Silver Medal at 2020 Tokyo Olympics
Silver Medal at Commonwealth Games, Glasgow, 2014.
Gold Medal in Women Senior National Weightlifting Championship, 2016.
Gold Medal in World Weight Lifting Championship, Anaheim, USA, 2017
Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna for 2018
Awarded Padma Shree in 2018
Gold Medal in Women Sr. National WL Championship, Mangalore, Jan. 2018
Gold Medal in Commonwealth Games, Gold Coast Australia, 2018
Sets World Record in Clean & Jerk by lifting 119 kgs in the Asian Championship held at Tashkent, in April 2021.
