Saikhom Mirabai Chanu
Saikhom Mirabai Chanu became the first Indian in over two decades to claim a gold medal at the World weightlifting championship. Chanu lifted 85kg in snatch and 109kg in clean and jerk to total an impressive 194kg in the 48kg category and in the process set a new National record in clean-and-jerk. Her own previous record was 108kg in June this year. Indian sportswomen
Her gold at world championship may prove to be a game changing incident in Indian weightlifting. Besides, the sport’s record on the doping front in India has not been good. As many as 192 of the 791 athletes banned by the National Anti-Doping Agency for doping violations are weightlifters. Sanamacha Chanu faced the ignominy of testing positive at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Worse, the national federation facing a ban by the international body in 2004, 2006 and 2009. Indian sportswomen
Under such circumstances, there could be no better fillip to weightlifting than Mirabai Chanu’s gold in the World Championship. The Manipur lass ensured that she would no longer be weighed down by memories of a no lift in the Olympic Games. And, at once, she has got weightlifting back into collective public consciousness. This time for the right reasons.
