I was competing against myself at Commonwealth Games: Mirabai Chanu

Mirabai Chanu, one of the biggest prospects for India at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games lived up to her top billing by winning the weightlifting gold medal in the women’s 49kg competition late on Saturday night.

Chanu not only defended her title in style by lifting a total of 201kgs, 29kgs more than the second placed Marie Ranaivosoa of Mauritius but also set a new Commonwealth Games record. Incidentally, the previous best of 191kgs in this category at the Games was set by her only in Gold Coast.

Not many weightlifters of Mirabai’s stature were in fray in Birmingham and she admitted that her competition was none other than herself.

“Everyone knew that the Commonwealth Games would be an easy affair for me. My main target was to push myself to the limit and give my best here. I was competing against myself as I wanted to assess where I needed to improve and set a future target,” Mirabai told India News in an exclusive chat after her record setting feat.

“I am happy with my performance here and I really like to thank the entire country who stood by me and supported me. I really appreciate the love and support and it was a very emotional moment to see so many Indians here at the arena rooting for me. I am really very touched and thank each and everyone of them,” the Tokyo Olympics silver medalist.

After conquering the Commonwealth Games, she will now turn her attention towards the World Championship scheduled for December. “I will now start preparing for the World Championship and my aim is to win a medal there as well. And simultaneously, I will also keep preparing for the Paris Olympics as well. I want the colour of my medal to yellow in the next Olympics and will do whatever it takes to get myself ready to challenge for the ultimate glory,” she concluded.