National Weightlifting Championships: Mirabai Chanu clinches gold, betters own national record

What the story?

Mirabai Chanu lifted a total of 203kg (88kg in Snatch + 115kg in Clean and Jerk) to clinch the Gold medal in the Women's 49kg category at the ongoing National Weightlifting Championships.

The background

Manipuri weightlifter Chanu is India's best medal hope in the sport at the Tokyo Olympics 2020.

The 25-year-old became the first Indian to win a Gold medal at the World Championships when she bagged the top honours at the 2017 edition of the prestigious event in Anaheim, United States.

Mirabai also won a Silver medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and a Gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. The sensational weightlifter was awarded the country's top sporting honour, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, in 2018, for her contributions in the sport.

The heart of the matter

The Manipuri weightlifter has now added another feather to her cap by bagging the gold medal at the National Weightlifting Championships by lifting a total weight of 203kg.

It is a truly remarkable achievement by Mirabai Chanu and she has bettered her own national record by two kilograms. Her previous best total lift was 201kg, which she had accomplished during the 2019 World Championships to finish in the fourth place.

The 203kg effort by Mirabai puts her in the fourth position in World Rankings. The Chinese duo of Jiang Huihua (212kg) and Hou Zhang (211kg), and North Korea's Ri Song Gum (209kg) are the only three weightlifters placed above Mirabai in the World Rankings.

The three will be Chanu's main competition at the quadrennial extravaganza - 2020 Summer Olympics - which is set to begin on 24 July in Tokyo, Japan.

The Gold medal at the National Weightlifting Championships will put Mirabai in the right frame of mind for the Olympics.

Earlier during the national championships, 17-year-old Jeremy Lalrinnunga had bettered his national record in Clean and Jerk to clinch the gold medal in the Men's 67kg category by lifting a total of 299kg (132kg in snatch and 167kg in Clean and Jerk).

What's next?

Mirabai Chanu will soon be competing at the Asian Champions in Kazakhstan, the last Olympic qualification event that is scheduled between April 16-25.

To increase the chances of a podium finish at the Tokyo Olympics 2020, it will be great if Mirabai improves on her personal best of 203kg. She will look to raise the bar further at the event in Kazakhstan.