Mirabai Chanu won India's first medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics after winning a silver medal in the women's 49kg event on Saturday. This is India's first silver in weightlifting at the Olympics. Mirabai lifted a total of 202 kg.
India's only previous medal in weightlifting was by Karnam Malleswari, who won a bronze medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Former world champion Mirabai has now won medals at Asian Championships, Commonwealth Games, World Championships and Olympics.
The current world record holder in the event, Hou Zhihui of China won the gold medal with a total of 210kg, setting a new Olympic record in the event, while Aisha Windi Kantika of Indonesia won the bronze with a total of 194kg.
Chanu told reporters after winning the medal, "I am very happy, I have been dreaming of it for the last five years. I am very proud of myself right now. I tried for gold but silver is also a big achievement for me. " For which she was training in America for the last few months. Responding to a question on what this means for him as a Manipuri, he said, "I am very happy to win the first medal for India in these Games. I am not just from Manipur, I am from the whole country. "
Mirabai entered the competition in the snatch category with a weight of 84 kg and her first lift was a success. She then did another successful lift in 89kg before failing in her third and final lift in 87kg. In her favorite clean and jerk category, Mirabai's 110kg and 115kg lifts were successful. His final lift with 117kg was unsuccessful but by then he was assured a silver.
Mirabai's first major breakthrough came when she won a silver medal in the 48kg category at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. At the age of 19, his total lifting of 170 kg was only three kg less than his attempt to win the gold.
At the 2016 Rio Olympics, her nerves failed her as she achieved just one clean lift in six attempts. A year later, however, Mirabai returned from Rio, winning gold at the Commonwealth Championships and then the World Championships. She carried on that form and confidence at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, eclipsing her own national record in the process.
Soon after, Mirabai suffered a back injury, due to which she was out of action for almost 10 months. She returned in 2019, right out of the medals at the Asian Championships and World Championships. At the 2020 Asian Championships held in Uzbekistan in April this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, Mirabai set a new world record in clean and jerk (119kg) en route to bronze, and confirmed her place at the Tokyo Olympics.