Good Sports: UPLIFTING PERFORMANCE
Weightlifter Mirabai Chanu was a major disappointment at the 2016 Rio Olympics, failing in all three attempts to lift a weight in the clean-and-jerk section.
“My failure in the Olympics hurt me,” she told The Hindu. “I did not go home (to Manipur) and focused on my clean and jerk at the national camp in Patiala. My mother always supported me and gave me strength.”
Two years later, she has rebounded splendidly and is looking like a favorite to win a medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. At the recent World Weightlifting Championship in Anaheim, California, Chanu not only won a gold medal, she also set a national record.
Competing in the 48-kg category, the 23-year-old lifted 194 kg (85 kg in snatch and 109 kg in clean-andjerk). She became only the second Indian weightlifter to win gold at a world championship, joining Sydney Olympics bronze-medalist Karnam Malleswari, who won gold medals in 1994 and 1995 in the 54-kg category.
“I never thought I would win a gold, but was determined to go back with a medal,” Chanu said. “Now, I am hopeful of winning a medal in the Olympics.”
Compiled and partly written by Indian humorist MELVIN DURAI, author of the novel Bala Takes the Plunge.
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