Sensational Chanu thrilled to open India’s account at Tokyo Olympics after winning silver in 49kg to end two-decade long wait for a weightlifting medal
Mirabai Chanu competes in the 49kg weightlifting event at the Tokyo Olympics on Saturday. Pic/AFP
A confident smile never leaving her face, Mirabai Chanu ended India’s over two-decade long wait for a weightlifting medal at the Olympics, clinching the 49kg category silver medal five years after leaving the same platform in tears following a disastrous debut.
With her historic triumph, she ensured that India was second on the medals tally for a brief while, a feat that has never been achieved before by the country.
The diminutive iron lady from Manipur lifted a total of 202kg (87kg+115kg) to better Karnam Malleswari’s bronze in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. With this, she exorcised the ghosts of the 2016 Games where she had failed to log a single legitimate lift, leaving her shattered.
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“I am very happy. I have been dreaming of this for the past five years. I am very proud of myself right now. I did try for gold but even silver is a great achievement for me,” Chanu said after her career-defining triumph for which she had been training in the US for past few months.
“I am very happy to win the first medal for India at these Games. I don’t just belong to Manipur, I belong to the whole country,” she said in response to a query on what it meant for her as a Manipuri.
The gold went to China’s Hou Zhihui with an effort of 210kg (94kg+116kg), who created Olympic records in all three categories (snatch, clean and jerk and Total). Aisah Windy Cantika of Indonesia took the bronze (84kg+110kg).
Also Read: Sensational Mirabai Chanu snatches silver medal at Tokyo Olympics
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