Tokyo Olympics silver medalist Mirabai Chanu continued to enrich her rich legacy in the sport of Weightlifting by winning the gold medal at the ongoing 2022 Commonwealth Games (CWG) in Birmingham. Chanu won the top prize in the women’s 49 KG category of the event.
Over the course of her sensational victory; Chanu created a new games record in both snatch and clean and jerk. Her total lift was also a new all-time record in the CWG. She lifted 88 KG in the snatch and followed with a sensational 113 KG lift in the clean and jerk.
By virtue of her record-breaking 201 KG total, she beat second-placed Roilya Ranaivosoa of Mauritius by a massive margin of 29 KGs. Canadian Weightlifter Hannah Kaminski won the bronze medal for a total of 171 KG in the event.
Eminent people from across the country lauded Mirabai for her incredible win. However, on Friday (August 5), she earned praise from unexpected quarters as Thor star Chris Hemsworth. After a fan claimed ‘Thor’ should retire his hammer, Hemsworth replied saying ‘She is worthy! Congrats, Saikhom, you legend.’
The Hemsworth-starrer ‘Thor Love and Thunder’ released across the world last month. This was the fourth movie in the ‘Thor’ franchise of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). He has played the role of Thor in four Avengers movies too.
Talking about Mirabai, this is the third successive edition of the CWG that she has won a medal in. In the 2014 edition at Glasgow, she took the silver medal in the women’s 48 KG category while backing it up winning the gold in 2018 at Gold Coast.
The 27-year-old had become a household name in the country after becoming only India’s second Olympic medalist in the sport of Weightlifting after securing silver in Tokyo last year. She ended India’s 21-year-old long wait for an Olympic medal in the sport after Karnan Malleswari clinched bronze in the 2020 edition in Sydney.
