Gold Coast (Australia): Star weightlifter Mirabai Chanu won the first gold for India at the 21st edition of the Commonwealth Games with a power-packed performance in the women’s 48 kilogram category here on Thursday.
The Manipuri powerhouse left the competition far behind by setting Games and Commonwealth records in the snatch, clean and jerk as well as the total.
She registered 86 kg in the snatch and 110 kg in clean and jerk for a total of 196 kg. Marie Hanitra of Mauritius finished a distant second with a total of 170 kg while Dinusha Gomes of Sri Lanka took bronze with 155 kg.
Chanu started off on a rousing note by breaking the existing Games record with a lift of 80 kg. She went on to break the record another two times with successful attempts of 84 kg and 86 kg, the latter being her new personal best.
That gave her a massive lead of 10 kilograms over second placed Marie at the end of the snatch session. The Indian star started the clean and jerk session in similar fashion, lifting 103 kg in her first attempt to take the lead straightaway.
Another successful lift of 107 kg consolidated her position at the top. The Manipuri went on to post a new personal best with 110 kg in her third and final attempt to close off a dominating performance.
Her previous personal best was 194 kg which she had set during her title winning run at the World Championships last year. Thursday’s show adds to the impressive record which Chanu has built up since her days in the junior level.
Her performances over the last couple of years has projected as the successor to the formidable tradition of Indian weightlifting.
With the Asian Games coming up later this year and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics not too far away, Chanu has demonstrated that she is ready to take over the mantle from previous stalwarts like multiple World Championships medallist Kunjarani Devi, 2000 Olympic bronze medallist Karnam Malleswari, Laishram Monika Devi and Sanjita Chanu.
However, life has not been all smooth sailing for the 23-year-old from Imphal East district. Like most Indian sportspersons, she has faced her fair share of difficulties and had to fight hard to achieve her current status.
Inspired by India’s weightlifting icon Kunjarani Devi, who also hails from her native Manipur, Chanu took to the sport in 2007 and has not looked back since then. She showed early promise when she won gold medals at the South Asian Junior Games and the 2011 International Youth Championships.
Her first medal in a major event at the senior level came at the previous Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland back in 2014. She had taken a silver on that occasion with Sanjita Chanu winning the gold medal.
Chanu continued her streak of impressive performances with gold medals at the 2016 South Asian Games and the 2017 Commonwealth Championships.
Odisha’s Sudarsan Pattnaik congratulated Chanu in his unique style;
India's Pride: Congratulations to #MirabaiChanu for clinching the Gold medal and P #Gururaja for winning silver medal for #India in #GC2018weightlifting . #GC2018 One of my SandArts. pic.twitter.com/krKJkm3YSI
— Sudarsan Pattnaik (@sudarsansand) April 5, 2018
IANS
