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Mirabai Chanu is widely considered one of the country's finest weightlifters. Born in Nongpok Kakching, a village in Imphal, she initially wanted to take up archery until she stumbled into a weightlifting hall in Manipur's capital.
Mirabai took to the sport with ease and soon began to make a name for herself. She rose to fame at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Scotland, where the then 20-year-old won the silver medal in the 48kg category.
Since then, the 29-year-old who idolized Kunjarani Devi while growing up, has won medals at the Olympics and World Championships, among other events across the world.
Ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics, we take a look at three of Mirabai Chanu's best performances in her career.
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#3 Bouncing back from Rio heartbreak at World Championships in Anaheim
The opening day of the 2016 Rio Olympics brought heartbreak for Mirabai Chanu and India, as the chance of bagging a medal was lost. After a failed lift in the first attempt in snatch, Mirabai bounced back with an 82 kg lift. While she tried improving it in the third attempt, she could not.
In the clean and jerk, Mirabai failed in all three attempts (104 kg, 106 kg, and 106 kg) and bowed out of the event. With it, India's chance of winning the first medal in women’s weightlifting since Karnam Malleshwari’s bronze in the 2000 Sydney Olympics also ended.
The 2017 World Weightlifting Championships in Anaheim was the first event for Mirabai since her Rio failure and all eyes were on her to see how she would perform.
The Manipur native lifted 85kg in snatch and 109kg in clean and jerk (for a total of 194kg) to take the top spot on the podium. It was also India’s first World Championship gold medal since Karnam Malleswari’s back-to-back wins in 1994 and 1995.
#2 Commonwealth Games gold medal
At the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, Mirabai Chanu was at her scintillating best. She lifted a total of 26 kg more than the second-best (Mauritius' Roilya Ranaivosoa) to win the gold medal.
Mirabai lifted 86 kgs in snatch and 110 kgs in clean and jerk (a total of 196 kgs), with all three figures bettering the Games record set by Nigeria's Augustine Nwaokolo in 2010.
Four years later, she arrived in Birmingham to defend her crown and did so in emphatic fashion. Mirabai lifted a total of 201 kg (88 kg in snatch and 113 kg in clean and jerk) to secure the gold medal. In doing so, she also broke her own Games record set in Gold Coast.
#1 Olympic medal in Tokyo
While Mirabai Chanu won plenty of medals in the Asian Championships, Commonwealth Games, and World Championships, among other events, she always wanted to secure an Olympic medal, especially since her heartbreak at the Rio Olympics.
While the opening day of the Summer Games in 2016 brought disappointment to her and the country, she made amends in Tokyo. She lifted a total of 202 kgs (87 kgs in snatch and 115 kgs in clean and jerk) to clinch the silver medal become became only the second Indian weightlifter, after Karnam Malleswari, to win an Olympic medal.
