1st medals for India at CWG 2014: Sanjita wins gold, Mirabai silver in weightlifting

Mirabai Chanu Saikhom (L), Sanjita Chanu Khumukcham (C) and Nigeria's Nkechi Opara (R)

The first medals for India at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games have come in weightlifting, with Sanjita Khumukcham winning gold and Mirabai Chanu Saikhom bagging silver in the 48kg women’s category. Nigeria’s Nkechi Opara took home the bronze medal.

See-saw battle between the compatriots

It was a tense, thrilling event as the two compatriots went head-to-head in the ultra-competitive category. Both women floundered at certain stages in the event, but ultimately it was Sanjita who came out on top with a combined total of 173 kg lifted.

There are two segments in this competition – Snatch, and Clean and Jerk – and the total weight lifted by a participant in both segments combined is taken as the final score.

The Snatch event was fairly straightforward, with Sanjita grabbing the top spot by lifting 77 kg. Mirabai, on her part, couldn’t go past 75 in any of her three attempts (each weightlifter is given three attempts to register a final weight).

The Clean and Jerk segment was a see-saw affair, with Sanjita initially failing to lift 92 kg. She managed to do so in her second attempt for an intermediate total of 169 kg, but Mirabai had stormed back into contention by then, having lifted 95 kg in her second attempt for a total score of 170.

Premature celebrations for Mirabai

In her final attempt, Sanjita lifted 96 kg, giving her a final tally of 173 kg. Now Mirabai, who by virtue of having a marginally lower body weight than Sanjita, only needed to match the latter’s total weight lifted to win the gold medal. So she attempted to lift 98 kg in her third and final attempt; if she had successfully managed to lift it, she would have been equal with Sanjita on 173 kg, but would have stood first because of the aforementioned body weight difference.

Mirabai did manage to lift 98 kg, and her camp immediately broke into celebrations for what they thought was a clear victory. But the judges cut short their happiness by adjudicating that she had bent her right elbow while performing the lift, which automatically disqualified that attempt. Mirabai thus had a final score of just 170, which was well short of Sanjita’s total.

The visibly heartbroken had to settle for silver, while the smiling Sanjita walked away with gold. Ultimately though, it was a big victory for India as these were the first medals registered by the country at the 2014 Games.