Saikhom Mirabai Chanu
About
A well-known weightlifter, Saikhom Mirabai Chanu scripted history in 2021 when she became the first Indian weightlifter to win a silver medal in Olympics.
Her success story started when she won the gold medal in the 2017 World
Weightlifting Championships followed by winning the first gold medal for India in the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Born to a family in a small village near Imphal city, Mirabai went from carrying firewood to support her family to carrying hopes of the nation. She even won a bronze at the 2020 Asian Weightlifting Championships.
Her actual weightlifting journey began when she participated at the 2011 International Youth Championship and at the South Asian Junior Games and won the gold medals in these games.
In 2013, she participated at the Junior National Championship in Guwahati, India and was awarded the Best Lifter Award.
In 2014, she represented India at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow where she won a Silver Medal in the women's 48 kg category by lifting a total of 170 kg.
On 31 August 2015, she was appointed as a Senior Ticket Collector in the Indian Railway.
In 2016, she qualified for the Rio Olympics in the women's 48 kg category. Unfortunately, she failed in winning any medal, that led her to mental health issues and she battled depression.
In 2017, she got selected for the World Weightlifting Championships in the women's 48 kg category and by lifting 194 kg, she won a Gold Medal for India after 22 years since 1995.
She represented India at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and won India's first Gold Medal in weightlifting on 5 April in the women's 48 kg category.
On 25 September 2018, she was conferred with the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award inSports and Games; which is the highest sporting honour of the Republic of India by President Ram Nath Kovind at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Awards and Accomplishments
Awards and Accomplishments
- Mirabai has won 3 medals at Commonwealth games, ‘Silver at Glasgow’ (2014), ‘Gold at Gold Coast’ (2018) and ‘Gold at Birmingham’ (2022)
- ‘Gold at Anaheim’ in World Championship (2017)
- Mirabai was honoured with ‘Padma Shri’ the fourth-highest civilian award (2018)
- She was honoured with ‘Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award’ the highest sporting honour in the country (2018)
- ‘Bronze at Tashkent’ in Asian Championships (2020)
- Silver at Tokyo Olympics (2020)
- Gold at National Games (2022)
- Felicitated by the Chief Minister of Manipur with a cash prize of 20 lakh.
- Featured on the cover page of the famous Vogue magazine in 2021.
Why Saikhom Mirabai Chanu ?
Coming from a humble financial background to battling depression to winning gold, it’s her consistency to overcome all the hurdles that proves her to be one of the best athletes we have in the country. Demure in appearance but determined in mind, Mirabai’s story is a reminder that hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny
