Mirabai Chanu wins India’s first gold medal at the Commonwealth Games 2022

Chanu won the gold in the 49kg clean and jerk event. She lifted a total of 201kg to give India their third medal at the games.

“Some think that [motivation] goes down after a medal but I don’t think like that. I want to improve more,” Mirabai told ESPN from NIS Patiala ahead of the CWG. “My training after Tokyo has become even harder,” she laughs.

“I have had to work harder because I want to win more than the silver from Tokyo. I want to work harder than before. This medal was not an end for me, I want to go even further.”

So far, India has won 3 medals in this edition of the Commonwealth Games – a gold, a silver and a bronze. 

Earlier in the day, weightlifter Sanket Mahadev Sargar brought the first medal for India by winning silver in the 55 Kg weight. The 21-year-old lifted a total of 248kg (113kg 135kg) to come second.

Meanwhile, Indian weightlifter Gururaj Poojary won a bronze medal in the Men’s 61 Kg weight category by lifting a total of 269 Kg in the Commonwealth Games 2022. 

Last year, Chanu won a silver medal in the 49kg category of Women’s weightlifting event at the Tokyo Olympics. And with that, she became the first Indian weightlifter to win a silver medal in Olympics.

Chanu also become the second Indian weightlifter to win an Olympic medal after Karnam Malleswari bagged bronze in the 69kg category at the 2000 Sydney Games when the weightlifting arena was opened to women for the first time.

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