Mirabai Chanu Scripts History, Wins India's First Gold Medal At CWG 2022

Mirabai Chanu lifted a record-breaking 88kg in her second attempt. Her second attempt helped her beat her personal best record (87 kgs) to set a new Commonwealth Games record.

Mirabai Chanu wins gold at Commonwealth Games 2022: Olympic silver medallist Mirabai Saikhom Chanu put a dominating show to defend her CWG crown in the women's 49 kg weightlifting final as she bagged India's first gold medal with a combined lift of 197 kg at the Commonwealth Games (CWG) 2022 in Birmingham on Saturday. She won the gold for India by lifting a total of 201kg. 

The star athlete lifted 84kg (snatch) in her opening attempt and went on to lift record-breaking 88kg in her second attempt. Chanu's second attempt helped her beat her personal best record (87 kgs) to set a new Commonwealth Games record. Her third attempt of 90kg was unsuccessful. Mirabai's second attempt put her miles ahead from rest of the weightlifters in the race for the gold. 

Clean and Jerk lift category

After lifting 109kg in her first attempt, Chanu lifted 113kg in her second clean and jerk attempt to set a new CWG record. The record could have been better if Chanu would have successfully lifted 115kg in her third attempt, but she failed to pull it off. However, Chanu didn't fail to win gold for India. This is India's third medal at CWG 2022. Earlier, weightlifters Sanket Sagar and P Gururaja won silver and bronze medals, respectively.

After some intense competition, Marie Hanitra Roilya Ranaivosoa won the silver medal and Hannah Kaminski won bronze.

"CWG is relatively easy for me, I will be fighting with myself. We have planned to lift 91kg or 92kg at the CWG. Hopefully, it will happen," Chanu, BBC Indian Sportswoman of the Year 2021, had told PTI in an interview last month.

Mirabai Chanu had secured a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics in the 49 kg category of women's weightlifting by lifting a total weight of 202 kg, (87kg in snatch and 115kg in clean and jerk). Before Chanu, Karnam Malleswari won a bronze medal in weightlifting events at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

Weightlifting | India women's Team: Mirabai Chanu (49kg), Bindyarani Devi (55kg), Popy Hazarika (59kg), Harjinder Kaur (71kg), Punam Yadav (76kg), Usha Kumari (87kg), Purnima Pandey (+87kg).