Think like a girl, fight like a girl, run like a girl and LIFT like a girl: Just like Mirabai Chanu, who won India her first gold medal at the 21st Commonwealth Games in a power-packed performance on 5 April.
Record Breaker
Not only did the World champion weightlifter(48kg) win us a gold, she also smashed the Commonwealth and the Games record in no time, pulling off clean lifts in all her three attempts (80kg, 84kg and 86kg). She then lifted more than double her body weight (103kg, 107kg and 110kg) in three successful attempts to claim the clean and jerk, as well as the overall Games record.
But Let’s Not Forget Her Struggles
What makes Chanu’s story even more remarkable is that her journey isn’t one only of triumphs. Just a year earlier, she even considered quitting the sport altogether after she and her coach were severely lampooned for their performance at Rio Olympics.
I was really low after the Olympics. It took me a lot of time to get over the disappointment. I even thought of giving up the sport and stop training. The comments in the social media and the criticism against my coach really hurt me.Mirabai Chanu
But just as winners always do, she soon realised that the only way to get rid of the disrepute was by doing better. Chanu then got back into her regime, chose not to go home, and instead, worked to improve her technique at the National camp in Patiala. And the rest, as they say, is history.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)