Mirabai Chanu (born 9 August 1994) is an Indian

weightlifter Weightlifting or weight lifting generally refers to physical exercises and sports in which people lift weights, often in the form of dumbbells, barbells or machines. People engage in weightlifting for a variety of different reasons. These can ...

. She won the silver medal at the

2020 Tokyo Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

in the Women's 49 kg event. She has won gold medals at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

and

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

. She was awarded the

Padma Shri The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...

and

Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna The Khel Ratna Award (; Sport Jewel Award), officially known as the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award, formerly known as the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, is the highest sporting honour of India. It is awarded annually by the Ministry of ...

by the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

in 2018. Chanu won the silver medal in the women's 48 kg weight class at the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games (), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014 (; ), were an international multi-sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Commonwealth Games as governed by the Commonwea ...

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

; she went on to break the games record en route to the gold medal at the 2018 edition of the event held in Gold Coast. Prior to the 2020 Summer Olympics, her biggest achievement came in 2017, when she won the gold medal at

World Weightlifting Championships The World Weightlifting Championships is an international weightlifting competition, currently held annually (except for years of the Summer Olympic Games) by the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF). The predecessor organization of the I ...

held in

Anaheim Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, United States, part of the Greater Los Angeles area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the tenth-most ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. She is a former world record holder in Clean & Jerk in the 49 kg category. In 2022, she joined

I-League The I-League is the men's second professional football division of the Indian football league system behind the Indian Super League. Administered by the All India Football Federation, it is currently contested by 13 clubs. It operates as a s ...

club NEROCA as its brand ambassador.

Early life and background

Saikhom Mirabai Chanu was born on 8 August 1994 in Nongpok Kakching about 30 km away from

Imphal Imphal (; , ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Manipur. The metropolitan centre of the city contains the ruins of Kangla Palace (officially known as Kangla Fort), the royal seat of the former Kingdom of Manipur, surrounded by a ...

city,

Manipur Manipur () is a state in northeastern India with Imphal as its capital. It borders the Indian states of Assam to the west, Mizoram to the south, and Nagaland to the north and shares the international border with Myanmar, specifically t ...

to a Meitei family, a warrior clan of that region. Chanu identified herself as a follower of

Sanamahism Sanamahism , also known as Meiteism , or Lainingthouism is an ethnic religion of the Meitei people of Manipur, in Northeast India. It is a polytheistic religion and is named after Lainingthou Sanamahi, one of the most important deities of ...

and she also stated that she is follower of Hinduism as well. Her family identified her strength when she was just 12. She could easily carry a huge bundle of firewood home when her elder brother found it hard to even pick it up. Mirabai trained at the Sports Academy in Manipur. She hitched rides with truck drivers carrying sand. After winning the Olympic medal, she invited the truck drivers to offer her gratitude and touched their feet as a sign of respect.

Career

Chanu's first major breakthrough came at the Glasgow edition of the Commonwealth Games; she won the silver medal in the 48 kg weight category.

2016 Rio Olympics

Chanu qualified for the

2016 Rio Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

in the women's 48 kg category. However, she failed to complete the event, owing to no successful lifts in any of her three attempts in the clean & jerk section.

2017–2021

In 2017, she won the gold medal in the Women's 48 kg category by lifting a competition record 194 kg in total (85 kg snatch and 109 kg clean & jerk) in the

2017 World Weightlifting Championships The 2017 World Weightlifting Championships were held in Anaheim, California, United States from 28 November to 5 December 2017. Doping bans Nine countries were banned from competing at the World Championships due to their history of doping at pre ...

held at

Anaheim, California Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, United States, part of the Greater Los Angeles area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orang ...

, United States. Chanu lifted a total of 196 kg, 86 kg in Snatch, and 110 kg in Clean and Jerk to win the first gold medal for India in the

2018 Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, were an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that was held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, bet ...

. En route to the medal, she broke the game's record for her weight category; the effort also marked her personal best performance. She missed out on a bronze medal in the 49 kg category at 2019 Asian Weightlifting Championships with a total lift of 199 kg, her personal best, as her Snatch weight was lower than the third-place athlete, both of whom had identical totals. At the

2019 World Weightlifting Championships The 2019 World Weightlifting Championships was held in Pattaya, Thailand from 18 to 27 September 2019. On September 12, Egypt was banned from competing at these Championships due to multiple doping offenses. The host nation, Thailand, was also ba ...

, Mirabai lifted a total of 201 kg (87 kg Snatch and 114 kg Clean & Jerk) to finish fourth. This personal best total also created a new national record in the 49 kg category. She broke her personal record again four months later when she lifted 203 kg (88 kg in Snatch and 115 kg in Clean & Jerk,) in the 49 kg category to win the gold medal at the 2020 Senior National Weightlifting Championships. In April 2021, she won the bronze medal at the

2020 Asian Weightlifting Championships The 2020 Asian Weightlifting Championships were held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, from 16 to 25 April 2021. Originally the event was scheduled to take place from 18 to 25 April 2020 but was postponed to 16 to 25 April 2021 because of the COVID-19 pan ...

in Tashkent where she lifted 86 kg in snatch and then created the

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizatio ...

by lifting 119 kg in the clean and jerk, for a total of 205 kg. In June 2021, Chanu became the only Indian woman weightlifter to qualify for the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

by securing a second position on the Absolute Rankings for the 49 kg category.

2020 Tokyo Olympics

Chanu won the silver medal in 49 kg division at the

in Tokyo with a total lift of 202 kg, becoming the first Indian weightlifter to win silver at the Olympics, the second Indian weightlifter after

Karnam Malleswari Karnam Malleswari (born 1 June 1975) is a retired Indian weightlifter. She is the first Indian woman to win a medal at the Olympics in 2000. In 1994, she received the Arjuna Award and in 1999, she received the Khel Ratna award, India's highes ...

to win an Olympic medal, and the second Indian woman after P. V. Sindhu to win an Olympic silver. A new

Olympic record Olympic records are the best performances in a specific event in that event's history in either the Summer Olympic Games or the Winter Olympic Games. Summer Olympics * Archery at the Summer Olympics, Archery (List of Olympic records in archery, li ...

was registered by Chanu with a successful lift of 115 kg in clean and jerk. Her win ensured India its first medal at the

Tokyo Olympics Tokyo Olympics may refer to: * 1940 Summer Olympics, Games of the XII Olympiad, cancelled due to World War II * 1964 Summer Olympics, Games of the XVIII Olympiad * 2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an ...

. Aftermath of Tokyo Olympic

Chief Minister N. Biren Singh announced an award of 1 crore for her. Indian Railway Minister

Ashwini Vaishnaw Ashwini Vaishnaw (born 18 July 1970) is an Indian politician, former Indian Administrative Service, IAS officer and a businessman serving as the 39th Minister of Railways (India), Minister of Railways, the 35th Ministry of Information and Broad ...

announced an award of ₹2 crores, promotion, and more for her. Domino's Pizza India also offered her free pizza for life.

2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games

Chanu won gold medal in 49 kg category at Commonwealth Games 2022 held at Birmingham, England. She lifted a total of 201 kg in snatch and cleaned and jerk.

2022 Asian Games

Chanu competed in the 49kg weightlifting event at the

2022 Asian Games The 2022 Asian Games (), officially the 19th Asian Games () and also known as Hangzhou 2022 ( zh, c=, s=杭州2022, labels=no), were a continental multi-sport event which was held from 23 September to 8 October 2023 in Hangzhou, China. The ...

. She finished in 4th position with a total lift of 191 kg—83 kg in Snatch and 108 kg in Clean and Jerk. During her final attempt at 117 kg in Clean and Jerk, she suffered a thigh injury and was unable to complete the lift, missing out on a potential bronze medal.

2024 Paris Olympics

Mirabai Chanu competed in the women's 49kg weightlifting event at the

Paris 2024 Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

. She finished at 4th position in Women's 49kg Weightlifting event by lifting 88Kg in Snatch and 111Kg in Clean and Jerk. Her total of 199Kg was 1Kg short of the result of Thailand's Surodchana Khambao who finished as the bronze medalist.

Achievements

Awards

National

, the highest sporting honor of India (2018) *

, the fourth highest civilian award of India (2018)

Rewards

For winning the silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics - * rupees from

BYJU'S Byju's (stylised as BYJU'S) is an Indian multinational educational technology company, headquartered in Bengaluru. It was founded in 2011 by Byju Raveendran and Divya Gokulnath. As of October 2024, various media outlets reported that Byju's v ...

* from the Government of India. * from the

Government of Manipur The Government of Manipur (; /mə.ni.pur lə́i.ŋak/), also known as the State Government of Manipur, or locally as State Government, is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of Manipur and its 16 districts. It consists of an ex ...

, and appointment as Additional Superintendent of Police (Sports) in the Manipur State Police. * from the

Ministry of Railways (India) The Ministry of Railways is a ministry in the Government of India, responsible for the rail transport in India, country's rail transport. The Indian Railways is the rail network operated and administered by the Railway Board constituted by t ...

and promotion in the Northeast Frontier Railway. * from the

Board of Control for Cricket in India The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is the principal national governing body of the sport of cricket in India. Its headquarters are situated at the Cricket Centre in Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. BCCI is the wealthiest governing body ...

* from the Indian Olympic Association. * Other rewards ** from the Government of Manipur for the gold medal in the

. ** from the Government of Manipur for qualifying for the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics. ** from the Government of Manipur for participating in the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics.

Others

* ''

The Times of India ''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...

'' TOISA Weightlifter of the Year: 2021

In popular culture

Mei Iklaba Thamoi (play)

''Mei Iklaba Thamoi'' is a

Meitei language Meitei (; ) also known as Manipuri ), is a Tibeto-Burman language of northeast India. It is the official language and the lingua franca of Manipur and an additional official language in four districts of Assam. It is one of the scheduled ...

Shumang Kumhei Shumang Kumhei (), also known as , is a Meitei traditional form of theatre, usually performed in Manipur, North East India. The theatre is arranged in the form of open air from four sides. The roles are all played by male actors, some dressed as ...

play based on the life of Mirabai Chanu, directed by

Shougrakpam Hemanta Shougrakpam Hemanta (born 1969) is an Indian comedian, actor, writer and director, who has worked in various Shumang Kumhei plays and Manipuri films. He is well known for his role of ''Oja Tolhan'' in ''Eegi Mahao'' and his portrayal of the tit ...

, released on 19 September 2021.

Upcoming film

A biographical Manipuri feature film on Mirabai Chanu was also announced by Seuti Films. The movie will be directed by OC Meira and screenplay by Manaobi MM.

References

External links