Star Indian weightlifter Mirabai Chanu delivered a stunning performance on Monday, securing a gold medal at the Commonwealth Championships at Ahmedabad with a record-breaking lift. This was an impressive feat on her return from her last game at the Paris Games in August, 2024, where she came fourth.
The Tokyo Olympics silver medallist broke the Commonwealth records in all three categories of total, snatch and clean and jerk. She lifted a total of 193kg (84kg in snatch and 109kg in clean and jerk).
30-year-old Mirabai had been on a break since she had been struggling with several injuries in the last few months, which forced her to miss multiple important events. Her gold in Ahmedabad is a great push for her to train and get ready for the upcoming international season.
However, that was not her ultimate goal.
“I’m not putting all my effort into Ahmedabad because I’m preparing for the World Championships. My biggest target is the Asian Games, where I aim to break world records and win a medal, as I have none there yet,” she had said on Saturday, a day before the competition.
The dedicated star from Manipur, was working closely with chief national coach Vijay Sharma, to fine-tune her technique for a 90kg snatch- something that she knew was going to be a massive challenge, despite the number of accolades under her belt.
The weightlifter made her first major breakthrough came at the Glasgow edition of the Commonwealth Games, where she won the silver medal in the 48 kg weight category.
At the 2019 World Weightlifting Championships, Mirabai even lifted a total of 201 kg (87 kg Snatch and 114 kg Clean & Jerk), but she came fourth.