Sensational Chanu wins historic silver

New Delhi/Tokyo: A confident smile never leaving her face, Mirabai Chanu ended India's over two-decade-long wait for a weightlifting medal at the Olympics, clinching the 49 kg category silver medal five years after leaving the same platform in tears following a disastrous debut.

With her historic triumph, she ensured that India was second on the medals tally for a brief while, a feat that has never been achieved before by the country. It was also the first time that India managed to win a medal in the Opening Day competitions.

The diminutive iron lady from Manipur lifted a total of 202 kg (87 kg+115 kg) to better Karnam Malleswari's bronze in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. With this, she exorcised the ghosts of the 2016 Games where she had failed to log a single legitimate lift, leaving her shattered.

"I am very happy, I have been dreaming of this for the past five years. I am very proud of myself right now. I did try for gold but even silver is a great achievement for me," Chanu told reporters after her career-defining triumph for which she had been training in the US for the past few months.

The 2016 experience was a watershed in her career and Chanu had spoken about how confused she had felt during her debut at the biggest stage. There were none of those nerves to be seen on Saturday, just a very composed and focussed athlete who knew she was destined for the podium.

"I am very happy to win the first medal for India at these Games. I don't just belong to Manipur, I belong to the whole country," she said in response to a query on what it meant for her as a Manipuri.

"I would like to thank my coach Vijay Sharma and the support staff for their continuous hard work, motivation and training," she added.

President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the country in congratulating Mirabai Chanu.

"Heartiest congratulations to Mirabai Chanu for starting the medal tally for India in the Tokyo Olympics 2020 by winning silver medal in weightlifting," Kovind tweeted.

Hailing the weightlifter, the Prime Minister said on Saturday that India is elated by her stupendous performance and that it couldn't have asked for a happier start to the grand sporting event.

Modi also spoke to Chanu and congratulated her on the win. He wished her the very best for her future endeavours, the Prime Minister's Office said.

Chanu became the first Indian weightlifter to win a silver medal in the Olympics.

"Could not have asked for a happier start to Tokyo2020! India is elated by Mirabai Chanu's stupendous performance. Congratulations to her for winning the Silver medal in weightlifting. Her success motivates every Indian," Modi tweeted with the hashtag 'Cheer4India'.

Her smile shone the brightest during the entire performance on Saturday but also hard to miss were the Olympic Rings' shaped earrings that she was sporting, which were a gift from her mother.

"I would like to thank my family, especially my mother for a lot of sacrifices and believing in me," she said.

The gold went to China's Hou Zhihui with an effort of 210 kg (94 kg+116 kg), who created Olympic records in all three categories (snatch, clean and jerk and Total).

"I've tried many times to beat her. I failed one attempt (on clean & jerk) but I was trying very hard to beat her," Chanu said.

Aisah Windy Cantika of Indonesia took home the bronze with an effort of 194 kg (84 kg + 110 kg).

Considered her weakness in the run-up to the marquee event, Chanu attempted 84 kg in her first snatch attempt. The Manipuri took her time and cleanly heaved the barbell.

She lifted 87 kg in her next attempt and raised the weight to 89 kg, which was 1 kg more than her personal best of 88 kg that she had lifted at the national championship last year.

However, she was unable to better her personal best and settled for 87 kg in the snatch event only behind leader Zhihui, who created a new Olympic record with an effort of 94 kg.

The Chinese lifter also holds the world mark (96 kg) in the category.

In the clean and jerk, world record holder Chanu lifted 110 kg and 115 kg in the first two attempts.

However, she was unable to raise 117kg in her final attempt, which would have been an Olympic record but it was enough to fetch her a medal and open India's account.

The diminutive Manipuri broke down after realising that she has secured a medal and hugged head coach Vijay Sharma in jubilation.

An Olympic medal was long overdue for the Indian, who has proved her mettle as a fighter in the international arena time and again.

Her cabinet includes a coveted world championship gold medal, two Commonwealth Games medals — silver in 2014 and gold in 2018 — and an Asian Championship bronze. with Agency inputs