When Mirabai Chanu won silver in the women’s 49kg weightlifting event on Saturday, she made history by becoming India’s first medalist in the Tokyo Olympics. Chanu therefore becomes the second Indian female weightlifter to win an Olympic medal, following Karnam Malleswari.
Malleswari had earned a bronze medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, making her the first Indian woman to do so at the quadrennial tournament.
Chanu won silver with a total lift of 202 kg, including 87 kg in the snatch and 115 kg in the clean and jerk. She lifted 84 kg and 87 kg in her first two attempts in the snatch category, but fell short of her goal of 89 kg in the final.
Following that, there was a similar storey. She lifted 110 kg and 115 kg in the clean and jerk section in her first two attempts. However, she was unable to lift 117 kg in the final, but she had already secured a silver medal.
Chanu sobbed as she realised she had won a medal and embraced her instructor in joy. After ensuring herself of a silver, she did a little dance.
Mirabai Chanu, a weightlifter, said later, “I am really delighted, was dreaming of this for the past five years: Weightlifter Mirabai Chanu after winning silver medal at Olympic Games,” as quoted by PTI.
Chanu, 26, was already a medal contender for India in the Tokyo Olympics, which began on Friday after a one-year hiatus due to the coronavirus outbreak. The Indian had a string of strong results leading up to the competition, including a new world record in the clean and jerk round.
China’s Hou Zhihui won the gold medal by lifting a total of 210 kg, a new Olympic record. Windy Cantika Aisah of Indonesia, on the other hand, won silver with a total lift of 194 kg.
Chanu tried 84kg in her first snatch attempt, despite her frailty in the lead-up to the main event. The Manipuri took her time and lifted the barbell with ease.
In her next effort, she lifted 87kg before increasing the weight to 89kg, which was one kilogramme more than her personal best of 88kg set at the national championship last year.
She was unable to surpass her personal best and finished second in the snatch event with 87kg, just behind leader Zhihui, who set a new Olympic record with a 94kg effort.
Chanu is only the sixth Indian female athlete to win an individual Olympic medal. Malleswari, Saina Nehwal (Women’s singles badminton bronze, London Olympics 2012), MC Mary Kom (Women’s boxing bronze, London Olympics 2012), PV Sindhu (Women’s singles badminton silver, Rio 2016), and Sakshi Malik (Wrestling bronze, Rio 2016) are the only women to have done it before her.
