Mirabai Chanu Opens India’s Account With Silver in the Tokyo Olympics 2020

Mirabai Chanu bags silver for India…get the details…

Monday, 26th July 2021

India saw its perfect start to the Tokyo Olympics 2020 on Saturday as Mirabai Chanu bagged a silver for her country in the 49 kg weightlifting category.

On Day 1 of the Games, Chanu won the silver medal when she 202kg (87kg+115kg) in the 49kg category and in the process bettered the previous benchmark set in India by Karnam Malleswari who had won a bronze medal in the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

The medal means much more to Chanu than any regular win as she had much to prove given the shattering failure she had faced in the Rio 2016 Olympics when had been able to register a single legitimate lift.

Netizens stormed the social media with felicitations and comments after the great moment. Dairy giant Amul India even dedicated a special tag line in Chanu’s honour and put it up on their official Twitter handle. It read, “Worth her weight in Silver.” The image features a caricature of Chanu with butter smeared fingers, wearing her medal.

In another tweet by business magnate Anand Mahindra posted a creative image of ‘Mirabai’ who is Lord Krishna’s devotee with a barbell replacing her signature veena. The tagline read, “Creativity at its best… Congratulations Mirabai.”

The 26-year old who hails from Manipur was beaten by China’s Hou Zhihui, who won the gold at 210 kg. The Chinese counterpart even set a new Olympic record of 94 kg. Jourdan Elizabeth Delacruz of America had lifted 89kg on her final lift, however, it had to be ruled out later on account of a technical flaw. The authorities afterward had turned down an appeal by the Delacruz camp.

Chanu lifted 87 kg in snatch and in the clean and jerk segment; she managed to hoist 115 kg giving India a spectacular start to the Olympics.

Chanu was in a state of disbelief having won India’s first medal of the Tokyo Olympics and said, “It felt like it was a dream. I forgot where I was and the fact that I was standing on the Olympics podium. Everything blurred for a bit. I realized I had won the silver only when they called my name and I felt the medal around my neck!”

The News Talkie Bureau

Source:

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