Saikhom Mirabai Chanu is an Indian weightlifter, who represents India at the international level since 2011. She is a gold medalist for both Commonwealth Games and World Championships.

Mirabai Chanu was born in a middle class family of Manipur, where her father worked at the Public Work Department and her mother served as a shopkeeper. She got the inspiration of becoming a weightlifter after watching Kunjarani Devi and began her primary training at the age of 11 only. After participating a few interstate championships, she took participate in 2011 International Youth Championship and began her journey to this filed officially. She appeared in the South Asian Junior Games competition in the same following year and won a gold medal there.

During this bout, Chanu kept her practicing mode on and ever let her dedication down for a single session. Her hard-work soon rewarded her with the Best Lifter Award in the Junior National Championship in 2013 held in Guwahati.

After this, Chanu participated in the 2014 Commonwealth Games and clutched a silver medal after finishing 2nd in the women’s 48kg category. In 2016, she got selected for the Rio Olympics but couldn’t make her mark deservingly and failed to win any medal.

She has been consistent on her international performance and won gold starting with the WWC in 2017. In 2018 Commonwealth Games, she won a gold medal in the 48kg category of weightlifting and became India’s first gold medalist weightlifter in the history of CWG. Currently, she works in the Indian Railway in the post of Senior Ticket Collector since 2015.

(as Compiled by Madhushree Das Ghosh)(Profile Image from Facebook)