ANAHEIM,CA-Indian athlete Chanu Saikhom Mirabai,23, showed grit in winning the women’s 48kg total and clean and jerk titles at the 2017 world weightlifting championships here on Nov 29 at the Anaheim Convention Center. Mirabai employed with the Indian Railway and the 2017 Commonwealth Games champion, lifted her personal best in career totaling 194kg to beat Sukcenjotharoen Thunya of Thailand to the second place by a slim margin of 1kg.
She was also the winner in clean and jerk of the event. Two-time junior world champion Sukcharoen finished first in snatch with 86kg but came up short in the clean and jerk.The Pan-American champion Ana Iris Segura Segura from Columbia was third in total. Mirabai s among the new breed of sportspersons from the tiny state, Manipur, which has a population less than three million.
She is only the second Indian woman to win a gold medal after Karnam Malleswari who won not once but twice, in 1994 in Turkey and in China in 1995. Women’s weightlifting was introduced at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and Malleswari became the first Indian woman to win an Olympic medal when she snatched the bronze.
Seeing Chanu’s triumphant smile, the commentators at the...
She is only the second Indian woman to win a gold medal after Karnam Malleswari who won not once but twice, in 1994 in Turkey and in China in 1995. Women’s weightlifting was introduced at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and Malleswari became the first Indian woman to win an Olympic medal when she snatched the bronze.
Seeing Chanu’s triumphant smile, the commentators at the...
Anaheim Convention Center here were as ecstatic as she and the Indian camp were.
The 1.5-metre pocket dynamo knew she was sure of getting silver after her final lift of 109 in clean and jerk because the other gilr in contention for the gold was Thailand’s Sukcharoen Thunya, the reigning Asian and junior world champion. Mirabai did her customary Namaste and left the arena pleased with what she thought was her silver performance. An admirer of seven-time world silver mediallist Kunjarani Devi, Chanu knew if Sukcharoen successfully lifted 109 kg, she would have to settle for the silver, having lifted a kilo less than the Thai in snatch. Sukcharoen, also all good Thais, folded her hands together after she failed to lift 109 kg and silver changed to gold in the hands of the Indian. Mirabai is doubly thrilled as the gold has erased the memories of a disastrous Rio Olympics where she had failed to even lift her entry weight of 104kg in clean and jerk to end her 48kg category event as `Did Not Finish.’ President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Chanu, who became the first Indian in over two decades to clinch a gold medal at the World Weightlifting Championships. “Congratulations Mirabai Chanu for winning a gold medal in the World Weightlifting Championship. India is so proud of you. And congratulations Manipur for giving the country such a wonderful series of champion sportswomen!” President Kovind’s tweet read. Wishing the weightlifter for her future endeavours, PM Modi wrote: “India is proud of Mirabai Chanu, who has won a gold at the World Weightlifting Championship. Congratulations and best wishes for her future endeavours”.
The 1.5-metre pocket dynamo knew she was sure of getting silver after her final lift of 109 in clean and jerk because the other gilr in contention for the gold was Thailand’s Sukcharoen Thunya, the reigning Asian and junior world champion. Mirabai did her customary Namaste and left the arena pleased with what she thought was her silver performance. An admirer of seven-time world silver mediallist Kunjarani Devi, Chanu knew if Sukcharoen successfully lifted 109 kg, she would have to settle for the silver, having lifted a kilo less than the Thai in snatch. Sukcharoen, also all good Thais, folded her hands together after she failed to lift 109 kg and silver changed to gold in the hands of the Indian. Mirabai is doubly thrilled as the gold has erased the memories of a disastrous Rio Olympics where she had failed to even lift her entry weight of 104kg in clean and jerk to end her 48kg category event as `Did Not Finish.’ President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Chanu, who became the first Indian in over two decades to clinch a gold medal at the World Weightlifting Championships. “Congratulations Mirabai Chanu for winning a gold medal in the World Weightlifting Championship. India is so proud of you. And congratulations Manipur for giving the country such a wonderful series of champion sportswomen!” President Kovind’s tweet read. Wishing the weightlifter for her future endeavours, PM Modi wrote: “India is proud of Mirabai Chanu, who has won a gold at the World Weightlifting Championship. Congratulations and best wishes for her future endeavours”.
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