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The Untold Story of Mirabai Chanu – India’s first Silver Medalist at Tokyo Olympics 2020.

Weightlifter Mirabai Chanu created history by clinching India’s first medal at Tokyo Olympics 2020. Mirabai Chanu wins the silver medal in the Women’s 49Kg Weightlifting Event at Olympics 2020. Mirabai also becomes India’s 2nd Weightlifter ever to win an Olympic Medal.

Chanu lifted 84kg and 87kg successfully but failed to lift 89kg as she was placed in the second spot after snatch while China’s Zhihu lifted 94kg to create an Olympic record. Mirabai Chanu who began lifting firewood as a child is now India’s first medalist at Tokyo Olympics 2020.

Who is Mirabhai Chanu

Saikhom Mirabai Chanu, a native of Manipur’s capital city Imphal was born on August 8, 1994 and is 26 years old. She won her first gold medal in a local Weightlifting competition when she was 11 years old. Later she went on to compete at the national and the international level. A regular competitor in International events since 2014, Chanu has won the World Championship and multiple medals at the Commonwealth Games.

Chanu’s first major breakthrough fame was at the Glasgow edition of the Commonwealth Games where she won the silver medal in the 48kg weight category. Chanu then qualified for the 2016 Rio Olympics in the Women’s 48kg Category. However she failed to finish the event as she failed to lift the alloted weights in her three attempts on the clean & jerk section.

In 2017, she made a strong comeback by winning the Gold Medal in the Women’s 48kg category by lifting a competition record 194kg in total in the 2017 World Weightlifting Championship held at Anaheim, CA, United States. In 2021, Mirabai Chanu became India’s first weightlifter to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics and she finally secured the second position in the 49kg category at the event

Earlier, She has been awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India for her contribution to the sport. She has also been honoured with Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award by the Government of India for the year 2018.

With the silver medal, Chanu has also opened India’s medal account at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. NLC Congratulates Mirabai Chanu for winning a silver medal at Tokyo Olympics 2020 and wish her a wonderful year ahead.

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