Yumnam Renu Bala Chanu (born 2 October 1986) 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 ...

, hailing from Kyamgei Mayai Leikai village located near

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 ...

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 ...

. She secured a gold medal in the Women's 58 kg category at the

2006 Commonwealth Games The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006, were an International sport, international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth held in Melbourne ...

Career

Renu Bala's career kicked off when she was selected for training during a 'talent hunt' camp of

Sports Authority of India The Sports Authority of India, SAI, was set up in 1984 to carry forward the legacy of the 1982 Asian Games held in New Delhi under the Department of Sports. SAl has been entrusted with promoting sport in India and achieving sporting excellen ...

, at Imphal in the year 2000, when after winning a silver in the state championship, she was recommended to the SAI. She received training at Lucknow under Hansa Sharma and GP Sharma. Renubala hails from Manipur but represents Assam, and was the third athlete from the former to have won a medal, after Soniya Chanu (silver in women's 48 kg) and Sandhaya Rani Devi (bronze in women's 48 kg). She represented Assam in the 2007 Guwahati National Games and won four gold medals for the State. She succeeded in defending her gold medal again at the

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, were an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth that was held in Delhi, India, from 3 to 14 October 201 ...

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

. The

Northeast Frontier Railway The Northeast Frontier Railway (abbreviated NFR) is one of the 19 railway zones of the Indian Railways. It is headquartered in Maligaon, Guwahati in the state of Assam, and responsible for operation and expansion of rail network all across N ...

employee set a new Games snatch record with a lift of 90 kg in her final attempt. Renu added 107 kg to her snatch record to total 197 to win the gold medal for the second successive time. She heaved 88 kg and broke the prior record held by

Maryse Turcotte Maryse Turcotte (born February 23, 1975, in Sherbrooke, Quebec) is a retired female weightlifter from Canada, who competed twice for her native country at the Summer Olympics: 2000 and 2004. A two-time gold medallist at the Commonwealth Games she ...

from Canada during the 2002 Games, and improved it in her next attempt to bring it up to 90 kg. Her national record is 93 for snatch, 119 for clean jerk and 209 for total. She dedicated her gold medal to the people of India and to the Indian Weightlifting Federation, saying that her win would help the Federation to recover from their recent setbacks. She expressed her pride and the significance of her achievements for someone hailing from a financially troubled background, and described her medal as a token of acknowledgement for the efforts her family, and coaches put in for her training. In 2014, she was felicitated jointly by the Assam Weightlifting Association (AWA) and the Assam Olympic Association (AOA). She won the

Arjuna Award The Arjuna Award, officially known as Arjuna Awards given for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games, is the second-highest sporting honour of India, the highest being the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. The award is named after Arjun ...

in 2014. She was unable to participate in the Guangzhou Asian Games in 2010 and the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow due to health related issues.

References

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Commonwealth Games gold medallists for India Weightlifters at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Indian female weightlifters Living people 1986 births Weightlifters at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Sportspeople from Imphal Weightlifters from Manipur Sportswomen from Manipur 21st-century Indian women 21st-century Indian people Recipients of the Arjuna Award Medallists at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists in weightlifting Commonwealth Games squash players for India {{India-weightlifting-bio-stub